The Magic Within
by FeminineHeroes
Summary: Princess Rose Mazur is the last member of her Royal Bloodline. The Queen assigns Guardian Dimitri Belikov to protect Rose. She is in more danger than she realises. With the help of her Guardian, Rose learns to fight for what she believes in. Enough that the Queen asks Rose to become her successor to the throne. But Rose isn't your average Moroi, how will that complicate things?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys, this is my first VA Fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy it!**

 **I do not own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within. Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

 **Chapter 1 - A New Guardian**

"Rose! Rose!" I groaned and pulled the closest pillow I could grab over my head to block out the noise. "Rose, come one!" Lissa called followed by banging that I assumed was her knocking loudly on my door.

"What?" I mumbled back.

"Your late Rose, your appointment with Headmistress Kirova is in 10 minutes!"

"Oh.. Shit!" I called jumping out of bed and stumbled to the door and unlocked it letting my best friend Vasilisa Dragomir or 'Lissa' to her friends and family.

"How very Princess like Rose" she scolded me.

I rolled my eyes at her and ran into my closet. "I hate Monday's."

"You remember what you need to say right?" Lissa called from her spot at the end of my bed.

I threw on a black sweater dress, black opaque tights and my tan coat and walked back into the room towards Lissa. She was sitting gracefully, curling the ends of her golden curls around her finger as she spoke.

"Yes, I remember we went over it all last night. I've got it."

Lissa frowned but nodded. "Ok, come here." She patted the spot next to her and grabbed some make up out of her bag that she had brought over. I did as she asked. She added some pale pink lip gloss to my lips and added some mascara lengthening my already dark long lashes. She periodically checked the time. Lissa brushed my hair quickly before pinning it on top of my head in a bun.

I was use to Lissa playing with my face and hair. She had a passion for it and I was always happy to please her by letting her doll me up. Lissa and I had been best friends since we were 3 when we both started here at St Vladimir's Academy. We'd been inseparable ever since. Lissa was there for me during the hardest times of my life. Three years ago I had been in a car crash. I'd survived with only minor injuries but my mother and father died. Leaving me as the last Mazur alive and the Princess. There were 12 royal families in our world and each had a Prince or Princess who was involved with all the politics, while the rest of the family partied and use their 'Royal' status for their own personal gain.

After my parents died that left me with the responsibility of being Princess Rosemarie Mazur, I had no other family. It was a huge roll to live up to. I had only two months left of school before I graduate and move to Court where I'd really get into the politics of the Moroi and Dhampir world. I'd be spending my time in meetings with other Royals and Queen Tatiana Ivashkov. It wasn't something I was looking forward to. Queen Tatiana and I had a strained relationship at best. She wanted me to grow into the Royal Princess she wanted me to be and I just wanted to rebel and be a normal, irresponsible kid. After the last 3 years and many heated discussions I had agreed to pick up my act a bit for the sake of the Mazur line. I wanted to make my parents proud.

"Ok done!" Lissa announced happily. She pushed my towards the full length mirror on my wall. My dark hair that usual fell down to my lower back in curls was pinned in a perfect bun. I was lucky to have my father's skin so it was darker than most Moroi. Closer to a Dhampir's coloured skin. I grinned at her work and gave her a quick hug. At least it didn't look like I had only woken 10 minutes ago. She threw some ballet flats at me and we walked out the room together. I always appreciated her help. To be honest if anyone deserved to be the princess it was Lissa. She would do a much better job at it than I. But that just wasn't how our world works. I gave her another hug when we reach her door down the hall. "Good luck! Let me know how it goes. I'll see you in class."

"I will" I promised before leaving the building and headed towards the administration building.

The sun had only just started to descend beginning the day for all us Moroi and Dhampir. The campus was mostly empty, the sunlight wasn't good for us Vampire's so we were 'nocturnal creatures' if you will. Dhampir's were much luckier than that, the sun didn't faze them but they still lived on our schedule. Only because of some silly reason that they couldn't reproduce together. Dhampir's had to be intimate with a Moroi in order to have any children and they would be born a Dhampir. Moroi could have children together, with Dhampir or humans although the latter was frowned upon. Because of these unusual Dhampir genes, they devoted their lives to protect Moroi like myself from the evil vampire's Strigoi, to continue their race. It was silly in my opinion and I hoped that one day I would be able to rectify it so Dhampir's could live freely like we did. Instead of being shunned into 'Blood whore' communes as they were called. Where Dhampir's didn't protect the Moroi and instead raised their children instead of sending them off to academies like St Vladimir's.

I pulled my coat in closer around my body cursing the cold weather of Montana. I understood that keeping our existence a secret from human's was needed but did it really mean that we had to generally live in the coldest and low populated parts of the world? Of course it did. When I finally made it into the administration building the Guardian on duty noticed my presence and walked towards the Headmistresses office. Guardians were the Dhampir that chose to defend the Moroi, not that they had much choice if they didn't want to be disowned by society. A minute later he returned and asked me to enter.

Headmistress Kirova was sitting behind her desk with her normal scowl on her face. The woman had always reminded me of a vulture. With her long nose and narrowed eyes. I glanced around the room as I took the seat across from her noting Guardian Petrov or Alberta as I called her when their weren't people around and another Guardian that I had never seen here before. He was definietly new because I would have remembered if I had seen him before. He was taller than anyone I had met. Maybe 6'6 or 6'7. He was well built like most Guardians that spent their lives training. He wore the black clothes of a Guardian but had a long brown coat on over like a cowboy. A 'duster' I'm pretty sure they're called. His dark hair was pulled into a pony tail at the base of his neck. The man was gorgeous and easily about 26 years old. He had the emotionless hard face of a Guardian. His eyes glanced around the room every few moments as he stood up against the wall motionless.

Kirova looked up at me with narrowed eyes. If my relationship with Queen Tatiana was strained than Ellen Kirova and I were enemies. I'd spent the better part of the last 17 years making her life hell here at St Vlad's with my various pranks, and my don't-care attitude. She had been waiting for me to screw up for the last few months, but my behaviour was proving her initial assumptions about me incorrect and it was driving her mad. "Headmistress Kirova, how are you?" I asked with my most innocent face making her eyes narrow further.

"Rosemarie" She nodded knowing I hated people using my full name. I kept the scowl off my face with a lot of effort. "I spoke with Queen Ivashkov yesterday, she asked how you have been and how your behaviour has been of late." I nodded happily knowing she wouldn't have been able to dish out any dirt on me to the Queen.

"She told me to relay the message that she is happy with your grades and your attitude." I grinned knowing how hard it must be for Kirova to say those things. She knew it too.

"That's very nice of Queen Ivashkov."

"Yes, well she has also assigned you a Guardian. Guardian Belikov here." She pointed to the gorgeous Guardian to the side. "Will be your sanctioned Guardian from now on. He will accompany you to your classes and will be with you at all times including whenever you leave the academies grounds as well as when you graduate and leave for Court." My innocent expression fell and my mouth dropped open. I had my own Guardian already?

The Guardian in question left his spot against the wall and approached me. "Princess Mazur, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Guardian Dimitri Belikov." He swooped into a low bow much more graceful than I would have expected from a man with of his enormous size. He had a Russian accent and I tried not to swoon at it. Kirova was looking at me intently. She knew this would be something I wouldn't like, having someone follow me around all day. I liked to think of myself as a free-spirit person. My jaw locked for a moment as my anger rose. Kirova sat forward in anticipation for my outburst. I swallowed the words on my lips and instead managed a smile. I stood up from my seat and stepped towards the Russian. If I could have anyone follow me around all day, he was at least good to look at.

I wanted to pat myself on the back for looking at the silver lining but I felt it might be inappropriate right now. Maybe later. I held out my hand and Guardian Belikov took it and gave me a firm shake. "Thank you, Guardian Belikov." He didn't smile but his dark brown eyes did, before he dropped my hand and fell back into his spot against the wall. I heard Kirova sigh loudly, disappointment clear on her face.

I gave her a knowing smirk and took my seat again. "Headmistress, I have a favour to ask. With the dance next weekend Lissa and I were wondering if you would give us permission to do some shopping one day this week."

Kirova looked down at the paperwork on her desk, she looked like she had had enough of my presence for one day. "You have my permission Rosemarie, Guardian Belikov will escort you both along with a couple other academy Guardians. If that will be all you are dismissed." She didn't even look up as she spoke.

I held in my humour at ruining her day already. "Thank you Headmistress, have a pleasant day." I chuckled quietly before leaving the room, Guardian Belikov on my tail.

When we exited the building I stopped and waited for Guardian Belikov to fall into step beside me. "Princess?" He asked me questionably.

I held up my hand "It's not Princess, or Rosemarie. My name's Rose, so please call me Rose."

He nodded. "Well than please call me Dimitri."

I smiled. "I think I can do that." I started walking again and gave Dimitri a pointed look to walk with me. "I'd rather not have a shadow. When I'm not with anyone else I'd rather you walk with me." He nodded and scanned the area.

"So you're stuck with me, lucky you." I rolled my eyes all innocent façade dropped.

He glanced at me sideways before resuming his search of the area. "You're not thrilled with Queen Ivashkov's decision." He stated.

I chuckled humourlessly. "Another person to look down my back every second of the day, to make sure I don't screw up. No doubt you have strict instructions to keep me in line?" He chose not to answer that. I shook my head and walked up the stairs to my room.

I closed the door on Dimitri and got changed into more casual clothes. I grabbed my black jeans that had slits over each knee and a red satin top with thin straps. I pulled a white cashmere sweater on over the top before leaving the room and walking towards Lissa's down the hall. "How'd you go?" She asked leaving the room with me as we left the building heading towards the cafeteria for breakfast. She turned when she noticed Dimitri behind us. I rolled my eyes "Lissa this is Guardian Belikov, _my_ Guardian." Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'O' shape. "Yep. Dimitri this is Vasilisa Dragomir but call her Lissa."

He nodded "How do you do?"

I nudged her shoulder when she didn't respond. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm well thank you Guardian Belikov." We continued together than.

"You have a Guardian?" She whispered to me.

"Unfortunately" I muttered.

"He's hot." I frowned at her, she was supposed to be on my side. Although I couldn't deny she was correct in her statement about his appearance.

"What? It's true. It could be worse Rose. You could end up with Guardian Alto." I gasped in horror. Guardian Alto was an academy Guardian that hated me, he had the awful ability to spit every time he spoke. We hadn't got along since he started here and I refused to call him anything other than Stan. Lissa nodded. "See what I mean."

I sighed and glanced back at Dimitri. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What did Kirova say about shopping?"

"We're going" I smiled at the only good news of the morning. Lissa squealed and clapped her hands happily making me laugh.

"How about we try for Thursday, that gives the school time to prepare and we will have enough time to make sure we have everything organised before the dance on Saturday." I nodded and turned to Dimitri who was about 3 paces behind us. "Is Thursday good for you for our shopping trip?"

"Yes, Prin... Rose. Thursday's fine, I'll advise Guardian Petrov."

"Thanks."

I grabbed two chocolate glazed donuts and took a seat at our regular table with our friends away from all the snobby royals. I didn't bother trying to impress them all to get into their click. Which had earned me a bad reputation amongst them all, not that I cared. My friends were genuine good people Lissa and I had grown up with. Mason Ashford and Eddie Castle were both Dhampir's in training to be Guardians. Mia Rinaldi, Natalie Dashkov and Christian Ozera - Lissa's emo boyfriend were all Moroi like Lissa and I. Mia was the only one of us that was a non-royal but that didn't make any difference to us.

"Well you look extra irritated today Rose." Mason commented with a smirk.

"Are you saying I always look irritated?" He just gave me a look that said 'well duh'. I smacked him over the back of the head only making him laugh. Lissa decided to tell them about Dimitri saving me having to do so.

"Guardian Belikov?" Mason asked. She nodded and he turned to me. "Do you realise how lucky you are Rose? The man's a God. He's respected by all the most well-known Guardian's and they say he can fight better than Arthur Shoenburg."

"Whatever" I mumbled only half listening.

Our morning classes went by slowly. Dimitri stood at the back of each of my classes, trying to appear inconspicuous. He failed, there was something about his presence that screamed power and authority so he was hard to miss. When lunch started I headed straight to the feeders room. Dhampir were only half vampire so they didn't need blood to survive like us Moroi. We needed blood regularly to keep healthy. We didn't have to take much to keep us going for a another day. The receptionist took my name and sent me down the hall to one of the available rooms. Dimitri followed me into the room. I didn't bother saying anything.

A middle aged human sat slumped in a lounge chair. His eyes were glazed over with a faraway look. He gave me a sloppy grin when we noticed I entered the room. I didn't enjoy this part of my life, taking the blood of human's but it was necessary and they were their voluntarily, not by force. A bite with my fangs leaves them in a drugged like trance. The human feeders were essentially addicts. I pulled up a chair beside him and he leaned his head to the side exposing his neck. I licked my lips with anticipation as I watched the blood pulse through his artery. I tried to ignore Dimitri's eyes on me as I exposed my fangs and they sunk into the man's flesh. He moaned in bliss as the endorphins in my bite took over. When I was satisfied I pulled back and placed a bit of chocolate that was on the table next to me in his hand for when he was ready to eat something. I walked over towards Dimitri and quickly glanced in the mirror to make sure I didn't have any blood on my lips.

 **Leave your reviews below!**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	2. Chapter 2

**This story is already finished, so I will have regular updates. Possibly daily depending on how many reviews I get. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within. Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

 **Chapter 2 - Training**

The rest of the afternoon went by uneventfully. The last period of the day when all Dhampir's were together training, Moroi were off learning to practise their magic. Moroi were able to control one of the elements. Earth, Water, Air and Fire. At about 14 years old each Moroi specialised in one element, they would than go off with a Moroi teacher to practise. I was 17 now and hadn't specialised. It was extremely rare for a Moroi to not specialise, not a good thing. But hey might as well set me apart from the world even more, a seventeen year old orphaned vampire princess hadn't done the trick.

I had a deal with Kirova that when last period came I would go off and do my own thing as long as I kept out of trouble and didn't annoy anyone. Lissa waved goodbye as she headed for her class she specialised in Air. I didn't consider her too lucky, there's not much you can do with that. Dimitri followed me back to my dorm room. I quickly changed into a pair of grey tights and black crop top as well as a black jumper and black Nike shoes. When I walked back out Dimitri gave me an odd look. My exercise gear was a dead giveaway about what I planned on doing, but there were hardly any Moroi than exercised. We all had perfectly slim bodies, it was actually extremely hard to put on any weight as a Moroi.

Dimitri walked beside me as I walked across campus towards the track. I pulled my hair up into a high pony tail and started stretching. Dimitri differed between surveying the area and giving me strange glances. When I was finished stretching I started my daily run. "Are you coming?" I called out over my shoulder to him. I didn't wait for a response before I took off, enjoying the stretch of my muscles. A few minutes later I head Dimitri come up behind me and matched my pace. I gave him a quick glance and had to stop myself from stumbling. He had changed clothes, and was now wearing a pair of black track shorts, runners similar to mine and a plain white t-shirt that hugged his muscles arms and chest perfectly. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice my faltered step. After we ran for about 40 minutes I came to a stop and grabbed a drink. I struggled to keep my eyes off Dimitri's sweaty chest that just added to his gorgeousness.

"Do you do this every day?" He asked breaking the silence.

I shrugged "Usually I run in the mornings and head the gym last period. But with the meeting this morning I didn't have time." One of his brows arched. Damn, I always wanted to do that. I could never get the angle right and instead made myself look like an idiot.

"You go to the gym as well?"

I nodded. "Come on, we've still got half hour before this period finishes the gym will be busy again." He followed my silently.

The practise gym was usually used for Dhampir's after school hours training. It was usually only busy on the weekends when they didn't have other classes where they had to work out. By going at last period everyday it guaranteed that I had the place to myself. It wasn't a widely known thing that I came in here, only Lissa, Eddie and Mason knew. Lissa my best friend by default and the guys because they joined me every now and then when it wasn't busy. I'm sure it would just be another thing to set me apart from the rest of the Moroi. I lifted some weights for the next twenty minutes. Dimitri helped and he became my spotter so I could lift heavier weights than normal. He corrected my technique and also complimented me on my progress. It felt nice to have his approval.

With 10 minutes left I walked over to the sparring mat the Dhampir's used to practise. Dimitri arched his brow again. "Come on Comrade. Let's see what you've got."

His eyes narrowed at the nickname than widened when he realised what I meant. "You want me to fight you?"

"That's the idea."

"No Rose. I wouldn't feel comfortable." He said when he reached me on the mat.

"Come on Dimitri, I'm not as fragile as other Moroi."

"I'm sorry Rose, but I won't fight you." I frowned, faking defeat before I lunged at him with a kick towards his stomach. He was quick and caught my foot before it hit the mark. While he held my foot I twisted my body and brought my other foot up towards his chest this time. Making him release one foot to dodge the other. "Rose" he warned me.

I smirked and sent a punch to his gut he fell for it probably assuming my skills were lacking as a Moroi, but it was a diversion. My legs snaked out kicked his legs out from under him. He landed with a loud thud on the floor. He eyes were wide with surprise as I jumped on him. My legs curled around his, restraining them as best as I could while I swung punch after punch trying to get an opening to his heart. Dimitri dodged most of my hits even with his body below me. When he realised I wasn't about to back down he rolled us over using his weight to hold me down underneath him. I managed to elbow him in the chest, he let out a small growl before grabbing both my arms and pinned them to the floor beside my head. I could tell he had me pinned I relaxed, panting. Dimitri was panting too. His eyes were on mine searching.

"How did you do that?" His Russian accent sending shivers down my spine.

"Do... What?" I asked trying to get my breathing under control.

"How did you learn to fight like that? Not many people can get hits on me and you managed to get a few good ones in. I'd dare say you'd rival some of the Guardian's here." It was the most he said all day. His Guardian mask had dropped leaving a facial expression on wonder. I grinned, not being able to supress the images of beating up Stan that my imagination was forming. Dimitri gave me a heated look when I didn't answer.

My head dropped back to the mat and my smile faded. "My father used to train with his Guardian's, he wanted to be able to protect my mother and I against Strigoi if they ever got close. They both died before he had to defend us, but he taught me a lot when I was younger and his Guardian's helped too. After he died I started practising on my own but it's hard without a moving target. Mason and Eddie sometimes spar with me, but they're usually busy with their own training to help me out."

Dimitri seemed to realise he was still laying on top of me at the same time I did. He pulled back and pulled me with him until we were both sitting across from one another. He looked thoughtful for a while. "Why do you want to fight Rose?" He asked finally.

I thought about the question before answering. "I guess I started because I wanted him to be proud of me. But now... I want to defend myself. I want to be able to fight off an attack. I don't want Guardian's dying for Moroi while they just cower in the corner. I want to be fighting by their sides. Dhampir's like yourself spend their whole lives training to defend Moroi for what? You get treated like you're a class below us all, most Moroi refuse to have any relationships with Dhamphir outside the bedroom and those of you that chose not to become Guardians are virtually disgraced because they choose to have normal lives and normal families like we do. How is that not wrong, Dimitri? Why should you lay down your life for me? What have I done to deserve your sacrifice?" I finished my rant with that.

Those words had been building up for a while. I never even spoke to Lissa about these issues, it was the main reason I agreed to cut my usual crap out for the Queen. There was something about Dimitri that made him easy to talk to. I felt like my opinion was safe with him, which I noticed was unusual as we only met today. Dimitri's eyes bore into mine like he was looking into my soul. I felt exposed but comfortable and protected all at once. "What?" I asked softly after a few minutes of staring.

He shook his head and looked out the window toward the forest surrounding the school. He looked back a minute later. "You're not what I was expecting." He said quietly almost like he was speaking to himself.

"Uhh, yes. I do have a bit of a reputation." He didn't agree or disagree. "People see what they want to, I guess. Sure I've got attitude and a bit of a temper. But I don't do anything half-heartedly and I'm passionate about the things I love and believe in. Some people like Tatiana and Kirova see it as arrogance. This whole princess thing, what they've got me doing. It isn't me. But I'll do it, because one day I'm going to do some good in this world and being a respected princess will be an important part in making sure that happens." I told him truthfully.

Dimitri held my gaze for a long moment before shaking his head back and forth with a small smile playing on his lips. "Definitely not what I was expecting." He muttered.

"What were you expecting? A spoiled rich kid, that doesn't care about much other than her status and how people view her?"

His lips twitched. "Something like that."

I smiled and got to my feet. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to judge a book by its cover?" He laughed and I almost fell back over at the sound. It immediately became the best sound I'd ever heard.

"I believe I have heard that before." He agreed getting to his feet also. We walked back to my dorm room, I was in higher spirits than I had been all day. I spent a long time in the shower letting the heat soak into my sore muscles after my workout.

When I remerged from the room Dimitri was standing their freshly showered and clothed already. His Guardian mask was firmly back in place. I met Lissa on the stairs and we walked to the Cafeteria for dinner. I could tell she noticed my happier appearance but she didn't comment on it, for which I was grateful. All through dinner I could see her shooting Christian heated glances.

Those two were pretty perfect for one another. She was light and he was dark. Christian Ozera was like a male version of me, which made our relationship unique. We fought tooth and nail on most things, and rarely had anything nice to say about one another. But in reality he was like my brother and I would happily give my life for him and I was pretty sure he'd do the same for me, though he would _never_ admit it out loud. Christian had similar views as I did about Moroi fighting although he took another outlet instead of training his body, he and his aunt Natasha Ozera 'Tasha' practised magic to fight. Moroi weren't exactly aloud to use their magic for that purpose so Christian did it in secret. More than once had he set some things on fire in his room and I had to save his ass by grabbing the extinguisher in the hallway near his dorm. He was lucky to have me.

"Go Lissa" I told her after dinner finished. She gave me a questioning look and I nodded towards Christian. "Go, we can meet tomorrow night." She tried to argue but I could see the happiness in her eyes. I smiled knowingly. "Don't argue." I laughed before walking off. The only downside about their relationship was that I now had to share my time with her. It was worth it though to see her happy.

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within, Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

 **A big thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far.**

 **This chapter you'll see more of Rose's life at St Vlad's.**

 **Chapter 3 - Moroi Magic**

The next morning I woke to my alarm blaring in my ear. In true Rose Mazur style I ripped the alarm from the wall and threw it across the room at the already holey wall. I grumbled as it shattered into lots of pieces and pulled myself out of bed. I grabbed the first pile of training gear I could get my hands on. It ended up being black 3/4 tights, a red sports bra and a white t-shirt. I threw on my shoes and packed some clothes for class, I figured I could save some time and just shower in the gym after my run. I wasn't all that surprised to see that Dimitri wasn't by my door. It was still two hours away from the sun going down, which was when his shift started. I did my normal stretches when I reached the track and started my run. About 20 minutes later I noticed someone walking my way, my enhanced eyesight made out the tall figure of Dimitri.

I smiled when he fell into step beside me matching my small strides with ease. "Good morning"

He gave me a quick smile before searching the area. "Good morning Rose. You shouldn't be out here alone at this hour." He scolded me.

I glared at him before it relaxed into a smile. "I'm not alone." I gestured to him.

He gave me a dissaproving look. "You didn't know I'd be out here this early Rose."

"Sure I did Dimitri, from what I hear you take your job very seriously. I figured you'd find me quick enough." His dissaproving look stayed but he didn't reply.

When we finished a long run there was still about 40 minutes left before I had to shower, so I grabbed my bag and walked to the gym. I added some weights to a bar and Dimitri stood behind me ready to help if I needed it. "So, what brought you to St Vlad's?"

"I volunteered." He said simply.

"You volunteered to by my Guardian?" He nodded. I put the bar back down and turned to him expectantly. "My charge was killed while I was off duty a couple of months back. After that I went to Court. When I heard that the Queen wanted to give you a Guardian I volunteered."

He had a faraway look. "I'm sorry Dimitri."

"Why are you sorry?" He raised a brow. Why couldn't I do that?

"You lost your charge. That couldn't have been easy for you. I wasn't kidding earlier when I said I heard you took your job seriously, the Novices can gossip as good as us royals at times. I'd bet that your still beating yourself up about it even if it didn't happen on your watch." All of his Guardian mask slipped from his face revealing surprise. I smirked "What? Not what you were expecting?" Referring to his comment yesterday. His lips curved at the edges a ghost of a smile on his face.

"You read people well." He commented.

I shrugged. "Sometimes, but your surprisingly easy for me to read." His smiled didn't falter. "Alright, enough with the heavy. I need to shower." I watched with amusement as Dimitri headed for the door expectantly. He only took 3 steps before he turned back realising that I wasn't following. I chuckled and turned to the bathroom to the right of the sparring mats.

"Rose, that's a men's shower." He called.

"I won't tell if you don't!" I called over my shoulder. Flashing him my man-eater smile that had worked wonders for me in the past. He blinked a few times but other than the his face stayed the same. I tried to hide my dissapointment as I dissapeared into the showers.

When I emerged clean and freshly dressed in leather tights a white t-shirt and my black leather jacket. The outfit screamed the opposite of 'princess' so naturally I rocked it. Moroi girls at this school were jealous of my body shape, I was leaner than them. More toned and had slightly larger breasts and ass. Lissa had told me that they suspected it was my diet because I ate like a horse, but I really just liked food. I got my tanned skin from my father and my body shape from my mother although all these years of weight training had certainly helped but I wasn't going to let them all know my secrets. Dimitri waited patiently for me. "Alright your up." I told him while I sat down on the mats and pulled my leather ankle high boots on.

When he didn't move I lifted my eyes to him. "It's fine Rose, I can get someone to stay with you while you're at breakfast. You don't have to wait for me to shower now." My jaw locked, I was so over the fact that Dhampir's came second to our needs. Well if he was going to be my Guardian from now on, he better get used to the fact I wasn't like everyone else.

"Dimitri, go shower." I didn't leave any room for error. He watched me for a moment until he realised I wasn't going to change my mind. "I'm not going anywhere. You can even leave the door open, if you're worried something will happen. I promise to scream really loudly if I hear _anything_ out of the ordinary." After an intense moment he nodded and grabbed his gym bag he left the door open as he walked around the corner. When I heard the shower start I tried to keep my mind occupied but in the end I spent the whole time fantasising about the large naked Russian that was only a few meters away from me. Hey, it wasn't my fault the man had godly looks. I had to fight the urge to scream just to see if he would come out naked or in a towel.

Dimitri was happy to see me sitting in the same spot he had left me. I'll admit I did drool a bit at the sight of him freshly showered. Unfortunately he didn't seem to think it was a good idea to get dressed out here like I thought it would be, so he was fully clothed. What a shame. I grabbed a donut and waved to Lissa before we left and went to the feeders. I figured after all the drooling I needed a pick-me-up. I was a lot more relaxed this time with Dimitri in the room as I fed. I was comfortable around him. He was easy to get along with, and he didn't treat me Kirova did. The rest of the day went by easily enough, although Dimitri refused to spar with me last period. But I wasn't going to let the subject go anytime soon. He'd cave eventually, I was sure of it. After dinner I waved to Lissa and gave her a meaningful look before saying goodnight to Dimitri, I didn't like the fact Dimitri had to wait outside my door until another Guardian replaced him at sunrise but what was I going to do? Plus I had somewhere I needed to be tonight.

As soon as I was in the room with the door closed I ran to the window. It wasn't the first time I had snuck out of my room, I was at the point now where I knew every step I had to take to scurry across the outside of the building towards Lissa's open window. I grinned when my feet touched her carpeted floors. "This is trickier now with Guardian Belikov around." She told me as she locked her door so no one could get in.

"You got that right. Ok, have you got the stuff?"

She nodded and grabbed a large bag out from under her bed. Inside was a litre bottle of water, three candles, and a collection of rocks in different shapes and sizes. I grinned. "Alright Rose, show us what you've got."

I laid the items out on the floor after moving the chairs away to give us some space. When they were how I wanted them I took a step back and sat down with my legs crossed. Lissa grabbed a spot on her bed behind me. I took a deep calming breath to relax myself before starting.

I started with the candles. I felt the familiar heat in my palms grow until a small blaze sat about an inch over the skin of my hand. With a flick of the wrist I sent the ball of light over towards the candles. It separated mid-air into three small flames and I lit the top of each candle perfectly igniting them all. Lissa my little cheerleader clapped enthusastically. The rocks shook slightly before they lifted into the air together until they were about a foot off the ground. We both heard a cracking sound before the rocks broke one after the other into small pieces. "Good job Rose!" Lissa whisper-yelled. I smiled before focusing on the bottle, and left the rocks levitating in the air. The water rushed out like the bottle was held upside down, instead of sitting upright. The water rose above us both and hovered over Lissa. She squealed and dived under the covers. "Don't please!" I laughed and brought the water back towards the rocks and candles.

She peaked out from under the blankets and sighed. "That wasn't funny Rose." She scolded me.

"Sure it wasn't" I giggled. Lissa eyes rolled as she climbed back out to watch.

This was usually as far as I took my magic training but I decided to push it a little further today. The flames of the candles grew until each was around the size of my fist. The air in the room started to blow mine and Lissa's hair around softly and I focused on the flames. They grew taller and pulled into one another and started circling, forming a small fired twister of sort. The wind pulled the flames flicking them around and around. The rocks moved over to the flames and circled around with them. Then the water circled it all into a large ball the size of a basketball. Holding the flames, rocks and air inside. "Rose" Lissa whispered in wonder. I shook my head not knowing how to respond.

Magic training for Moroi didn't exactly go like that. Moroi could only use one element. Something else that made me stand out, which was why I kept it a secret. There were rumours of other Moroi having specialised in more than one element but all four was unheard of. I chose instead to fly under the radar and just declare that I hadn't specialised in anything. Which was still uncommon but it gave me a free period out of the day that I enjoyed and kept the teachers from being suspicious. Lissa was the only one that knew the truth and I planned on keeping it that way for as long as possible. I practised in her room with her help a few nights a week, she knew how reckless I was so she kept me in line.

 **I know that wasn't a very long Chapter so I promise not to leave you guys hanging for the next one!**

 **You'll see our Roza do some flirting in the next Chapter ;)**

 **REVIEW!**

 **Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Flirt**

The next morning when I left my room ready to go for my run Dimitri was at my door dressed in his training gear. I smiled and we silently left the building together. I pushed myself hard around the track, until I could barely stand. Dimitri kept pace with me but by the time we finished he was struggling himself. I felt quiet proud. "Come on, we're sparring today." I told him.

"No Rose, I'm not going to fight you." When we entered the gym I walked straight to the mats.

"Please, Dimitri." He shook his head. "Please! How about you teach me to fight then that way you don't actually have to fight me?" He sighed. "If you don't I might just have to pick some fights with the novices." I gave him my best pout.

He groaned. "Fine Rose. I'll teach you. But not today, we need to shower."

"Ehh fine, you go first." I muttered waving him off. At least he agreed.

Dimitri didn't argue this time and went straight to the showers. When I heard the water start, I smiled and walked towards the noise, bag in hand. I choose a cubicle and closed the door behind me. "Rose?"

"Mmmm?"

"What are you doing?" His accent seemed more pronounced than before.

"Getting naked, what are you doing Dimitri?"

"Rose" He said sternly.

I chuckled and turned the water on. I was a flirt, hey I'd admit it. I'd had my fair share of hot make out sessions with some of the Moroi and Dhampir at school but nothing more. Although I'm sure that's not what they guys say. They wanted the honour of telling everyone they had slept with the Mazur Princess. I didn't contradict the rumours, figuring it just added to my badass attitude.

I hummed a song while washing my hair. The shower beside mine shut off and I heard the sounds of Dimitri getting dressed. "So were shopping tonight?" I called over the tiled wall separating us both.

"Yes, were going with two other Guardians. Leaving at 6 AM."

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "How about we skip last period and get some rest before we leave?"

"That's probably a good idea Rose." Classes went by slowly and I spent lunch getting my ear talked off by Lissa who was excited for our trip. It wasn't often that we got out of the academy grounds.

When my last class of the day finished Dimitri walked me back to my room. "I'm going to take a nap until dinner. Why don't you go and get some sleep?"

"I'll be fine Rose." He said sitting down in a chair outside my room.

I frowned until an idea struck. Walking into my room I closed the door but left it unlocked. I pulled the spare mattress I had out from under the bed, that Lissa usually used when we had secret sleepovers. I pulled out a pillow and some blankets from the cupboard and laid them down on the mattress. When that was done I pulled on one of my oversized t-shirts I slept in and sat on the bed. "Dimitri!" I yelled. As expected he raced into my room and stood in an attack position, searching the room with his eyes for any threat.

"Rose?" He asked when he noticed no one else was in here with me.

I grinned and pointed to the mattress. "I made you a bed. Close the door will you?" I pulled the covers of the blanket over me and laid down. I rolled my eyes at Dimitri's bewildered expression. "Lay down. You can be my Guardian while you sleep, I'll be right next to you."

"Rose, that's not how this works. I'm on duty, I don't go to sleep."

I sat back up and glared at him. "Dimitri who is your charge?"

"You"

"Do you think you won't be able to protect me if I'm asleep next to you?"

"No, but"

"No" I cut him off. "I don't see what the problem is then."

He still didn't move making me growl under my breath. "Shit Dimitri, just do as I say. I don't want to have to order you all princess-like." His eyes narrowed at my curse. He sighed and took his duster off. I grinned happy that I had won. He kicked off his army boots and pulled his hair out of its usual pony tail. I hadn't seen him with his hair out before and from what I was seeing now, I wanted it out a lot more.

After Dimitri laid down and got comfortable I laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You barely even fit." I pointed to his legs that reached over the edge of the mattress because of his long length. Dimitri frowned and rolled his eyes at me. This was the Dimitri I liked. The one that relaxed when it was just me and him. I followed suit and laid back down getting comfy again. "Goodnight Comrade." I said cheekily.

"Goodnight Princess." He mocked my tone.

"Hey!" I yelled throwing a pillow at his head. Making him chuckle. I rolled my eyes turning over so he couldn't see the huge smile on my face. After a few minutes sleep came.

I woke up and rolled over to look at my alarm clock, telling me it was 4 AM 'dinner time'. I peered down at Dimitri's sleeping form beside me. He looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him. He had a small smile on his lips and his arms were folded securely over his chest. I leaned over the edge of the bed and poked him gently in the middle of his chest. A strong hand grabbed my wrist quickly and Dimitri's eyes shot open. "Wakey wakey, we've got to have some dinner before we leave." Dimitri's hand let go of mine. I won't admit out loud how much I missed his touch after he let go. Dimitri got straight up and pulled his boots back on.

I grabbed an outfit out of the closet and walked into my bathroom to change. I chose my favourite black skinny jeans that had cuts all up the legs and a plain black satin top with small straps. I rolled up the bottom of my jeans twice and slipped on my black ankle boots. I quickly washed my face and run my hands through my curls. I left the bathroom to find the mattress Dimitri used was back under my bed and the blankets folded sitting at the bottom of my made bed. "You didn't have to do that" I told him pointing to the clothes.

"And you didn't have to let me sleep in here." He countered.

"Touché" I grabbed my red cardigan that went down to the back of my knees and pulled it on over my top.

Lissa was already at the cafeteria with Christian when we arrived at dinner. I chose a few slices of pizza and a soda and took a seat across from the lovebirds. "I'm jealous you guys!" Mia whined. "I want to go shopping."

"I'm going Friday with Daddy" Natalie told her. "Why don't you see if Kirova will let you come with us?"

"I didn't know your father was here" I told her. Natalie was a daddy's girl. Her father was Prince Viktor Dashkov, he always had a soft spot for Lissa and I growing up. Viktor unfortunately had a disease that was slowly killing him. So he spent a lot of time here on campus to be near his precious Natalie. Last I heard though he was at Court.

"He fly's in tomorrow."

I nodded. "Come on Lis, it's time to go"

She gave Christian a few kisses until I dragged her away. "Bitch" I heard Christian mutter under his breath.

"Fire crotch!" I yelled back at him, ignoring the surprised glances of the people around us.

 **Thank you to everyone who is following and has reviewed!**

 **The action will start soon! :)**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Time To Shine**

Dimitri was waiting patiently at the door for us both and we walked towards the front of the administration building where they had a large black academy van waiting for us. "Guardian Vetrov, Guardian Karev. This is Lady Vasilisa Dragomir and Princess Rose Mazur" He introduced us all.

I nodded to the two Guardians and jabbed an elbow in Dimitri's gut when they turned around to survey the area. He didn't even flinch he just raised one of his brows. "That's for calling me Princess." I said following Lissa into the car. Guardian Karev took the spare seat next to me, while Dimitri drove and Guardian Vetrov sat in the passenger seat.

They both wore their emotionless Guardian masks the whole drive to the nearest decent shopping mall. We arrived in an underground car park and the guardians got out first and did a quick perimeter check before Dimitri opened the door for us when they had the all clear. "I don't think, I'm ever going to find the right one." I whined to Lissa after 6 hours of shopping. Lissa was lucky she found a jade green dress that went down to her knees and matched her eyes in the second shop we went in.

"Have faith Rose" She hugged me encouragingly. I felt Dimitri's eyes on me regularly throughout the day. He told me that he was the near guard so my big Russian had to come into every shop with Lissa and I while Vetrov and Karev waited outside the store. I grabbed the nearest rack and started sorting through them when I heard Lissa gasp.

I looked up quickly to see her with a black dress in her hands. "I've got it Rose. Go try it on." She said shoving the dress in my arms and pushing me towards the change rooms. I did as she said and undressed myself when I zipped the dress back up I turned to the mirror. The dress was fully black and strapless, the chest area dipped low in the middle revealing my cleavage. The dress clung to my hips and ass and had a weird cut at the bottom, it ended at a point over my knees and then had a slit up one my thighs revealing more skin.

"You're a genius Liss" I said loudly.

She squealed "Let me see it!" I opened the door and walked out. Lissa stood back looking at it up and down. "That's the one. You look hot."

I laughed. "Thanks Liss." I turned to walk back into the change room when I caught Dimitri's eyes on me. I watched as they slowly travelled down my body and then back up before he gulped. When his eyes met mine I winked and closed the door behind me. I covered my mouth with my hand to quiet my giggle. Maybe I'm not the only one that has fantasies about the others body. Oh this dance was going to be fun.

When I was back in my regular clothes, I paid for the dress and we left walking towards some shoe stores. I ended up with a pair of black pumps and Lissa got a silver pair with straps over her toes and ankle's that were a bit shorter than mine from another store. After that we charged through some jewellery stores. We both agreed that I wouldn't need a necklace with the top of my dress so I chose a pair of black diamond studs and some rings to match. We took some time to relax after that and grabbed some food at one of the restaurants in the shopping centre before we left for the drive home.

Guardian Vetrov walked about 20 meters in front of us as we entered the underground carpark. Dimitri walked by my side, with Lissa on the other and Karev took up our 6. It was surprisingly dark, like the late afternoon sun was covered by dark clouds outside leaving little to no natural light coming from the exit gate on the other side of the carpark. When we were about 30 meters from the van I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and linked my hand with Lissa's. "Dimitri" I said whispered to him. "I have a bad feeling about this" I pointed around us, there wasn't a soul in sight other than us. He gave me a quick look before looking around us again his eyes narrowing taking in everything. Surprisingly taking my nervous comment seriously. His eyes searched everywhere. Vetrov reached the car at the same time I heard Lissa scream. Immediately we were both pushed behind Dimitri and up against the nearest vehicle.

I heard a vicious snarl and peaked around Dimitri's large outstretched arm to see a Strigoi. He looked like he used to be a Dhampir before he was turned. He was almost the size of Dimitri. His skin was pale white and dark brown eyes were rimmed with red, the easiest marker to pick that he was a Strigoi. He was fast, faster than anyone I had ever seen as he ran towards us. Guardian Karev stepped forward and lunged at him when he got close and they started to fight. Karev was good but the Strigoi was faster and stronger. I turned my head to see that another Strigoi was by the van fighting Vetrov. I pulled Lissa behind me on instinct as she clutched my hand tight.

Dimitri's head whipped around as two more Strigoi emerged from the shadows. Dimitri gave me one last glance before he stepped forward silver stake in hand. There were only three things that could kill an immortal Strigoi. Decapitation, being burnt alive, or a silver stake to the heart. Dimitri looked like a fierce warrior as he ran to meet the two Strigoi. He had one staked before I could even see his hand move. The second one swung a fist towards him that he ducked. Lissa screamed again from behind me and I turned to see the Strigoi fighting Vetrov get the upper hand and snap his neck. I heard a loud grunt that pulled my attention away from the horrifying scene only to see Karev hit the ground hard and the Strigoi that he was fighting jumped on top of him and sunk his teeth into his neck. Karev's body went limp faster than I thought possible. Dimitri got the upper hand on his Strigoi and staked it through the heart. Leaving the last two Strigoi and Dimitri standing, the fighting commenced quickly.

I could feel Lissa's tears fall on to my neck as she tried to hide her face behind me. Lissa was my priority at the moment, I would never forgive myself if something happened to her. A movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I gasped as 3 more Strigoi appeared. "Dimitri! There's more!" I yelled.

"Run Rose! Get out of here!" He yelled while throwing a punch at the largest Strigoi. I grabbed Lissa from behind me and pulled her away from the newest Strigoi pushing us towards the van. I tried to ignore the vile in my throat as I picked up the keys out of Vetrov's dead hand doing my best to ignore the awkward angle his head laid at and unlocked the car.

I shoved Lissa in and put the keys into the ignition. "Go Lissa! Drive! Get some help!" I told her closing the door. Her eyes widened as she realised I wasn't coming with her. "We need help hurry!"

"No Rose!" She yelled through the glass.

I gave her one last look before turning around and running towards Dimitri. _Come on Lissa, go!_ I was chanting in my head, wishing that she could hear my silent please. I finally heard the van back out of the spot and screech down towards the exit. _Thank you!_ I thanked whoever was listening.

Dimitri was fighting 3 Strigoi while another two stalked around the fight looking for an opening on him. Mason was right he does fight like a god. Ok Rose, time to shine. I felt the heat in my palm's as I ran towards the fight. When I was a few feet away from the first Strigoi he turned to me surprised that I hadn't left. I outstretched my hand and the fireball flew straight for his face. I leant down and grabbed the stake Karev had dropped. The Strigoi screamed as his face was engulfed in flames. Dimitri's eyes grabbed mine quickly before he's attention was back on his fight. "Rose!" He yelled, his voice was slightly panicked, which was unusual for Dimitri. I used all the strength I had and drove the stake right under the Strigoi's ribs and into his heart. He dropped to the floor dead. I didn't have time for a victory dance as a strong hand gripped my waist and threw me backwards. I hit the ground hard and moaned as I felt blood trickle down the side of my head.

I slowly got to my feet and the Strigoi that pushed me away grabbed me by the throat lifting me off the ground. I gasped for air making the disgusting monster laugh. I gagged as I felt his breath near my face. It was absolutely revolting but it also gave me an idea. _That's it!_ The air around us picked up quickly and I sent it all into the Strigoi's mouth. He gasped opening his mouth further and his grip loosened around my neck giving me enough room to manoeuvre and slam the stake into his heart. I dropped to my feet when the Strigoi fell to the floor. I looked up to see Dimitri take down another Strigoi leaving three left. I ran over to them surprised how far the Strigoi had thrown me. The fire that I had hit the first Strigoi with was still alive over his body. I picked up on the heat and sent it flying towards the remaining Strigoi. The concrete floor underneath the closest Strigoi to Dimitri started to rumble and quiver making the blood thirsty monster stumble. Dimitri took the distraction and staked one of the Strigoi. The other one screamed and lashed out a kick, sending Dimitri backwards slamming him into a concrete wall.

I don't know what came over me in that moment but all of a sudden I was furious. Beyond furious. I screamed as I lunged for the Strigoi that had kicked Dimitri my stake slashed against his skin making him scream at the top of his lungs. The fire licked at the side of his face. He paused in pain and gave me the opening I needed to stake him. When he was finished I turned to the last Strigoi and ducked a wild swinging arm from him. My stake slashed the side of his face, making him gasp. I used that moment to make the fire enter his mouth burning all the way down his throat. The Strigoi screamed and coughed but I didn't care, I was seeing red. I pushed the stake towards his heart. It missed the ribs, but before I could pierce his heart he fell back losing his footing, the stake still in his chest as his back hit the ground. I didn't miss a beat as I stood over him and lifted my foot, before slamming it into the end of the stake driving it through his heart.

I turned to make sure all the Strigoi were dead. Dimitri was back on his feet and looked like he was just about to jump into the fight before I killed the last one. His eyes were huge as he looked from the Strigoi to me before his guardian mask emerged. I let all the magic go and the fires stopped. I checked him over for injuries, he had a nasty gash out of his ribs, but other than the he looked ok. A loud screech brought my attention away from Dimitri, two vehicle's pulled up and Guardian's got out. I recognised Alberta and Stan in the second SUV. "Lissa?" I asked Alberta as soon as she got out of the car.

"She's fine Princess. They have the doctors at the school looking over her just in case." I nodded and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Dimitri grabbed the handle of the back door in the SUV and opened it gesturing for me to get in. I didn't need to be told twice, I pulled my body up and Dimitri followed me in. Stan got out to help the other Guardians with the clean-up and Alberta drove us away from the scene.

As soon as we were back on the road I turned to Dimitri. "Are you ok?"

He nodded "I'll be fine Rose. Are you alright?" His eyes rose to the blood that had started dripping down my face even more. He reached over to inspect the wound. I nodded and then winced. The adrenaline was quickly reducing the effects it had on me, leaving the pain behind. My eyes started to go blurry. "Rose?" Dimitri asked, his voice sounded far away. I felt my body slump but my head luckily hit something soft. "Hurry, we need to get her to the infirmary!" I blinked a few times trying to get my sight back, I realised my head was laying in Dimitri's lap. My face was turned towards his chest. I could see the blood pooling on the right side of Dimitri's ribs. I looked into his face, noticing for the first time the pale colour of Dimitri's skin. Which wasn't right, he had a good tan. He was losing a lot of blood.

I knew what I had to do next, I lifted his shirt to see the injury and then covered it with my hand. I felt a happy, tingling sensation in my chest before it pushed down my arm and into my palm. Dimitri gasped as he felt the magic enter his body. Darkness was threatening to take over my body but I held out for as long as I could. When the wound in his ribs healed and I could tell there wasn't any more damage, I released my hold on his ribs and lifted my hand to his worried face. I put my pointer finger over his lips and gave him a meaningful look. I turned my head towards Alberta and back. He nodded in understanding. He leant down until his lips were at my ear. "Thank you Roza, I won't tell anyone. I promise." He leaned back and brushed my bloodied hair away from my face softly. I gave him one last smile before letting the darkness take over.

 **So you've got a look at how good our Roza actually is. Clearly she has a lot of potential.**

 **I do not own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within.**

 **Thank you to all of my reviewers, I'm taking everything in to make sure my story goes well.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Recovery**

I woke up in a familiar room. White ceiling, white walls and bright lights - the infirmary. Fantastic. I noticed movement to my left and turned my head to see Dimitri sitting on a seat with a novel in his hands. Memories of the car park came back as I watched his gorgeous face. My chest ached as I thought about Vetrov and Karev. "Hey Comrade" my throat was parched so it didn't come out the way I intended.

Dimitri was on his feet straight away and leaning over my bed with a worried look on his face. "Rose!" I gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Hungry."

He chuckled. "Blood?" I nodded wincing at the pain in my head. He leant over and pushed a button on a remote beside me. "I'll get the doctor to come and have a look at your injuries while I go organise you a feeder and grab you some actual food, how does that sound?"

I gave him a grateful smile. "Chocolate donut?"

He laughed. "I'll do my best." I nodded again and rested back into my pillow.

Dr Olendzki entered the room and gave me a large smile. "Rose" she greeted.

"Hey Doc" Dimitri slipped out of the room. "How am I doing?"

"Well you've got a head injury, lucky it wasn't deep, but we've cleaned it so you shouldn't get any infections. You have a large bruise on the right of your hip, but no other damage beside some scrapes that should heal quickly after you've had a feed."

I nodded. "How long have I been out?"

"About 6 hours. I'm going to keep you here under observation for a while. But you should be back in your own bed by the time the sun's back up." I frowned but didn't argue with her.

Dimitri returned 20 minutes later with another guardian and a human. "Can you sit up?" Dimitri asked. I nodded and got into a sitting position and let my legs dangle over the bed. I only just realised I was in an awful hospital gown. Eww. I scowled. Dimitri's lips lifted a touch at the edges but he didn't say anything. The human walked over to the side of my bed where I sat and tilt his head to the side. Dimitri took a position behind him ready to catch the man if he couldn't stand after the bite. I licked my lips before revealing my fangs and sunk them into his neck. He and I both moaned. I left like I had been starved and was all of a sudden given their own buffet. I didn't close my eyes, instead my eyes locked with Dimitri's in a headed moment while I drank. The man slumped forward when I pulled my mouth away but Dimitri caught him before he could fall on me. He lifted the man into a wheelchair and the other Guardian wheeled him out of the room.

"Better?"

"Much"

He smiled and handed me a brown paper bag. I peeked into it and the sweet smell of warm donuts filled my senses. I didn't waste any time before taking a bite. "I got Lissa to grab you something comfortable to stay in while your here. She's unharmed and wanted to come see you, but you're not a loud visitors." He handed me a bag.

I opened it after licking the last remains of chocolate from my fingers. Inside was a toiletries bag, grey sweat pants and a black singlet. "Your my hero."

Dimitri chuckled before his face turned serious. "Technically you saved my life, Rose. Which makes you the hero."

I frowned. "I didn't save you Dimitri, you were doing perfectly fine on your own."

"That maybe so, but I was still outnumbered 5 to 1 and already injured. I wouldn't have lasted long."

I shrugged. "I bet your happy that I learnt to fight after all. I can only imagine how much better I'd be if you taught me." I smirked, getting some of my normal Mazur attitude back after the food.

"I'm being serious Rose. Why didn't you run? You wouldn't have been hurt, you could have got out of there with Lissa."

I frowned at him. "I wasn't about to leave you there Dimitri."

"You should have Rose!" He's voice began to rise and I felt my anger burn in my blood.

"Why because you're a Dhampir I should have left you and saved _myself_? I don't give a shit about that Dimitri, you're my equal. Would you have left me there by myself? No, so why would I leave you when I knew I could help you!"

He sighed and lowered his head in defeat. "You could have been killed Rose" he said sadly.

"Well than at least I would have died doing something I believe in Dimitri." With that I grabbed the bag he gave me and headed into the bathroom. I slammed the door with more force than I should of, but I was pissed.

I took my time in the shower, waiting until all the anger had subsided before I shut off the water. I pulled on the sweats and brushed my teeth. When I returned Dimitri was sitting on the side of my bed, he looked up when he heard the door open. Any fight left in me evaporated as soon as I seen his crushed face. I knew this couldn't have been easy for him. He had only just lost his other charge and I put myself in harm's way today. He was still in his bloody clothes from the fight, he must have been too worried to even leave my side to shower and here I was yelling at him. I walked over to the bed and pressed the button on the remote Dimitri had pressed earlier. I sat beside Dimitri in silence and waited.

"Hey Dr Oz" I said when she entered the room.

"Hi, Rose. What do you need?"

"I'm leaving, I'd just thought I'd let you know."

"Rose, you can't leave just yet."

"Doc, I've had an extremely long day and I just want to go back to my room. Dimitri will be there if anything happens."

She sighed and deliberated for a minute. "Alright Rose, just this once. I'll get you some meds for the pain, but if you have any dizziness or fatigue..."

"I'll be right back here." I finished for her. She nodded. Dimitri didn't look happy but he looked like he was over fighting.

I got some medication that should help for a while and we left the building. Dimitri walked by my side and paused when he realised where we were going. "Rose?"

"Come on." I said opening the door for him. He reluctantly followed me in and waited for me. "Which one's yours?" I asked.

"Rose, you're not allowed in my room."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll just knock on every door until someone tells me which rooms yours. Hopefully they aren't too tired." I told him walking towards the first door on the right of the hall. I lifted my hand to knock when my wrist was caught mid-air by Dimitri.

"Come on" He said dragging me further down the hall by my wrist. I smiled.

When we reached Dimitri's room he opened the door and let me in. "Alright what are we doing here?"

"I'm not doing anything." I told him looking around the room. "You are going to go shower and change." He raised a brow, and I just shooed him towards what I assumed was the bathroom door. He listened and went into the bathroom. I walked around the small space while I waited. He had a large bed against a window overlooking the courtyard below. A tall chest of drawers, a comfy chair and a bedside table. He had a bunch of books all in Russian on a shelf. Beside his bed on the table he had a few photo frames, I sat on the bed and looked at each of them. One was of a younger Dimitri standing next to a blonde haired Moroi who looked like he was the same age as Dimitri when the photo was taken. They both had large smiles on their faces.

Another frame held a picture of 5 women and 2 kids, a boy about 5 or 6 and a girl who looked to be 3 all of them Dhampir. They were all smiling for the photo except the oldest woman in the picture who had a scowl on her face. It made me smile. Another one was just of the kids in the last photo, they were sitting on Dimitri's lap and he was grinning ear to ear at whoever took the photo.

"My family" Dimitri said. I didn't hear him come back into the room.

"Oh sorry" I moved away.

He shook his head. "No, it's fine Rose. I don't mind." He picked up the one of the family and pointed. "That is my mother Olena, my grandmother Yeva, my sisters Sonja, Karolina and Viktoria. And that's Paul my nephew and my niece Katya." His eyes shone with happiness as he showed me. He put down the frame and then picked up the one of him and the Moroi man. His smile dissapeared. "That's Ivan Zeklos, we grew up together at St Basil's in Siberia. He was my best friend and after we graduated he became my charge." I gasped as I realised that this was the man that died while Dimitri was off duty. The next thing I knew my arms were around him and I squeezed him hard. Dimitri stiffened for a moment before he put the frame down and his arms closed around my back holding me close.

"I'm sorry, Dimitri" I whispered as tears fell from my eyes.

"You don't need to be sorry, Roza."

"Yes, I do. What I did today was stupid and reckless and I could have gotten myself killed. I'm sorry for snapping at you, I know your just trying to protect me."

He held me tighter and I felt his head nod resting across the uninjured side of my head. "It's ok."

We stayed in each other's embrace for a moment longer before I stepped back wiping my eyes. "Come on, we better go." He nodded and opened the door for me.

When we got back to my building Lissa was descending the stairs. She ran to me as soon as she seen me and pulled me into a hug. "Rose! I was so worried! Are you ok?"

I kissed her forehead. "I'm alright Liss. How are you holding up?"

"I'm ok" she gave me a small smile. I knew she hadn't been injured but she still seen Vetrov and Karev go down.

I nodded. "Let me know if you need anything Liss, I'm going to go get some rest."

She nodded and squeezed me before letting go. "Sure Rose, go get some rest. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." With that she walked past me and surprised both Dimitri and I by pulling him into a hug. He pat her back gently and gave he a questioning look, all I could do was shrug. "I'm glad you're alright too, Dimitri." She told him before letting go and walking out the door. I chuckled and walked up to my room.

I opened the door and gestured Dimitri in. He didn't argue this time. I pulled out the mattress he used before and gave him the blankets that were still folded neatly on my bed. "No arguments Dimitri, you've been up all night. We're getting some sleep." He smiled at me and started untying his shoes. I climbed into my own bed and while Dimitri's attention was elsewhere I healed my head and bruises on my waist. When we were both comfortable I rolled over to the edge. "Goodnight Comrade."

He chuckled. "Goodnight Roza" I gave him my best man-eating grin before laying back down. I loved the way he said my name in Russian. I loved the way he made me feel comfortable around him and protected. I loved his handsome smiling face and the way he was so serious when it came to protecting me but relaxed when it was just the two of us. I was falling for Dimitri Belikov. Well Shit!

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - The Car Crash**

Pitch black eyes were staring at me. When the large man stepped closer I could make out the bright red rings that surrounded the black. His skin was pale, like he had never had the pleasure of basking in the sun. I could see the blue veins in his face and when he opened his mouth large fangs emerged. They weren't like my own. I had two pointed teeth, these fangs reminded me of a snakes fangs. Long and curved. I knew that they would do more damage than I ever could with me own. The Strigoi flashed to where I was standing, I gasped at his sudden close proximity. He smiled, making me cringe as his fangs glistened in the dim light above us. "Mmmm, Princess" he moaned grabbed a handful of my dark hair and inhaling it. I tried to pull back on instinct. The move made me scream as I felt some of the hair that he was holding rip from my skull.

The Strigoi laughed a hunting laugh at my scream. My head pounded and I clutched the sore part of my head with my hands. The Strigoi pulled my head to the side making me scream again. "No no no no!" I screamed as I felt his fangs brush over the flesh of my neck. His tongue slid over the area, tasting. I shivered in disgust.

"Goodbye Princess" He whispered into my ear before his fangs sunk into my neck. I screamed and thrashed trying to get away.

"Rose!... Rose!...Roza!" I gasped as my eyes opened and I was staring into the warm brown eyes of Dimitri.

"Dimitri?" His face looked worried. I looked around the room realising that I was lying in bed in my dorm room.

"You had a nightmare" Dimitri said softly. My eyes closed when I felt Dimitri's hand brush the hair out of my face. "You're ok Rose. They aren't here, it's just me." I laid back trying to get my breath under control and my heart to stop feeling as if it was trying to push out of my chest with each beat. I didn't even realise I was upset until Dimitri wiped away my tears.

"Maybe we should talk about what happened." He sat down on the edge of my bed.

"You don't need to baby me Dimitri, I'm fine."

"Rose you went up against pure evil yesterday and watched two men die. I'd be seriously worried if you were fine."

"It's not the first time I've watched someone die." I said tilting my head away from him as I thought about the night my mother and father died.

Dimitri was silent for a few minutes I thought maybe he'd given in, I was wrong. "Can you tell me what happened back there?"

My eyes widened and I sat up looking Dimitri in the eyes. "Please tell me you didn't tell anyone." My voice broke over the words. My heart started pounding in my chest once again.

"Calm down Rose. I didn't say a thing. I'm just curious. When I was first assigned to be your Guardian I read your file. It said that you hadn't specialised in any magic. I thought that meant that you just couldn't do magic. But what happened out there with the fire, earth and I swear I seen you suffocating the Strigoi using air on the one that had hold of you? Not to mention what happened in the car on the way back here." I bowed my head. He'd seen everything I didn't want anyone but Lissa to see about me.

I got up off the bed and walked to the door double checking that no one was in the hallway outside. The pink sky outside my window told me it was still early in the Moroi world so it was completely empty. I closed the door and locked it behind me. Then walked to the Windows around my suite and pulled them all closed. I didn't need anyone overhearing what I was about to tell Dimitri. I climbed back onto the bed and sat down so I was across from Dimitri our knees were almost touching. I took a large calming breath before starting.

"You assumed that I couldn't do magic when you read that I hadn't specialised. Well that is what I want everyone to think. If I specialised I would have teachers breathing down my neck trying to get as much magic out of me they possibly could. They can't know that I can do that, Dimitri. Not only the elements but the healing too. I don't know what would happen if word got out. I'm only telling you this because I trust you. Lissa knows about some of it but, yesterday in the car park. I've never used my magic to that extent before. Usually I just play around with small amounts. But then you were in danger, I didn't want to hold back." My voice turned menacing. "When the Strigoi kicked you into the wall, I… I don't know what came over me but I had to kill them so I used everything I had at my disposal. There wasn't any water down there so I used the others. In the car… Well I don't know much about that one, because every time I've used it, it drains me of energy until I eventually pass out." Tears started pouring from my eyes.

"The night my parents died in the crash, I tried so hard to heal them! I had only just realised that I could heal things, but I was injured and freaking out too much to get hold of the magic. My mother was already gone but my dad he could see me trying to reach over to him from the backseat. The stupid seatbelt wouldn't let me go enough to get to him. He held out his hand and I finally grabbed on. I tried and tried but nothing happened. I was too weak! Dad… he just smiled at me. "Look after yourself Kiz, we love you." He told me before his hand dropped from mine and his eyes closed. They died because I couldn't use my magic. I could have saved them!" My body shook with sobs, the bed dipped and Dimitri's arms grabbed onto my body pulling me into his lap. He held me close and let me cry until I had nothing left.

I pulled myself together and continued. This was something I had never told anyone before, not even Lissa. "There was a Guardian in the car beside me, after my father stopped breathing Guardian Pavel woke up. He managed to pull me out and over to the edge of the road. I remember laying there in the grass bleeding watching him as he ran back to try and get my parents out. He got the seat belt off from around Mum and lifted her up when the car blew up all of a sudden. I tried to get to him, but there was nothing I could do and I was too injured to even move. I can still remember his screams. The Queen put on a massive service for my parents, everyone I knew was there, hell half our kingdom was there. When I asked her if I could attend Guardian Pavel's funeral, do you know what she told me?" I asked looking up into Dimitri's eyes.

I could see the pain in his eyes as he nodded. Of course he knew, Guardian Pavel wasn't the first Dhampir to die. I continued. "Guardian's don't have funerals because other Guardians would have to leave their charges to attend and that was simply inexcusable. My parents had hundreds of people attend they all gave me their condolences and not one of them mentioned anything about Guardian Pavel in their speeches and prayers. He was simply dismissed. I don't even know if his family know how he died or if he's even dead... I will _never_ be like them Dimitri. If I can use my magic to help you survive a Strigoi fight, I'm going to do it and that includes healing your injuries after. The moment that those Strigoi ran at us yesterday, I knew what I was going to do, I knew that I would risk my life for yours as well as Karev and Vetrov's. I just had to wait for an opening to get Lissa out of there first. They died before that could happen though. You understand though don't you? That if you risk your life for me, I'm going to do the same for you."

I watched as Dimitri took my words in. "So you and I, we're equals?"

I nodded. "Yes, exactly. You made a vow when you graduated to become a Guardian that 'Moroi come first' well I made a similar one the day of my parents funeral. 'No life was worth less than my own.'"

He smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of my forehead. "Well I guess we've got some training to do if we're going to fight the next Strigoi we meet together."

I grinned and looked up. "Thank you Dimitri."

"No, thank you Roza" I couldn't help put stare into Dimitri's chocolate eyes. He understood me better than anyone ever had. I suddenly realised I was still sitting in his lap only a couple of inches away from his face. I wanted to kiss him and by the look in his eyes he wanted the same thing. _Knock Knock._

I jumped up suddenly feeling like I had been caught doing something illegal. Dimitri was on his feet too, Guardian mask firmly in place and he moved towards the window and looked outside while I went to get the door. Lissa pulled me into a hug and squeezed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright Lissa, better after that sleep." She nodded and released me. She raised an eyebrow at Dimitri's figure behind us. Was I the only person who couldn't do that? "I came to give you a message from Kirova." She said when she looked back at me. This can't be good. "The Queen is coming today to speak with you."

"Fuck!"

"Rose!"

"Sorry Comrade! What time will she be here?"

"An hour, enough time to get some food into you and get ready." I internally cursed. I knew that Tatiana wouldn't come here for a social visit that woman always had a hidden agenda.

"Alright, let's go get some food and we will come back here to get ready. Comrade after breakfast you should go get changed. Is that ok?"

He turned back towards me from the window. His Guardian mask was still up but his eyes sparkled. Were equals, he got a say in matters now also. "That's fine Rose."

We tried to get in and out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible but with everyone hearing about the attack it took longer than I wanted it too. Everyone was asking questions. I knew Dimitri could tell I was uncomfortable on the topic so he managed to grab me a plate and told me to eat in my room. He left us with another Guardian stationed outside my room to go change. Lissa and I decided on a pale pink dress that was fitted yet professional with a high neckline and matching heels with simple straps. Lissa as always did my hair and makeup. The end result had some gold around my eyes and pale pink lips and my hair was out in soft curls. I grabbed my white coat and gave Lissa a hug. "You'll be fine Rose, I know you will."

"Thanks Liss" I walked out and met Dimitri at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes did a double take at my attire but he didn't say anything out loud in front of everyone walking in and out.

We walked in silence until we got to the administration building where we would meet the Queen. Guardians surrounded the building they all looked very professional in the black suits that matched Dimitri's, the only difference was they had red on the inside of their collars that gave away the fact they were the Queens Guardians. One of them opened the door for me "Princess Mazur" another Guardian spoke from inside the foyer, he bowed in greeting. "Please come in, Queen Ivashkov is expecting you." With that the door of Kirova's office was opened. My eyes locked with Dimitri's, he gave me a formal nod and I turned back to the door before walking in.

 **I hope this Chapter answered some of your questions and gave you some background on Rose.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Stunned Into Silence**

I did a quick survey of the room as I walked towards Tatiana. Seven Guardians lined the walls. I only recognised Alberta among them. Kirova was sitting in a seat beside the Queen. Dimitri followed me into the room, I relaxed slightly having his presence close. I bowed when I was a few feet from Tatiana. "Queen Ivashkov" I greeted formally. Dimitri bowed beside me.

"Princess Rosemarie, Guardian Belikov. Please take a seat." She gestured to a lounge seat across from hers. I took my seat without hesitation and Dimitri took his place along the wall to my left.

Tatiana had a formal gold gown on and a crown around her head. She looked somewhat like Kirova except for less lines around her eyes and her appearance was perfect. "I heard about the attack Rosemarie. Headmistress Kirova tells me you were injured, I hope that you have recovered well." The way she said it made me think her thoughts were contradicting her words.

"Yes, Queen Ivashkov. I am feeling much better thank you."

She nodded and crossed her ankles. Here was go. "I have read the reports from Guardian Belikov." Oh shit, please tell me she didn't know about the magic. I glanced at Dimitri but he was looking straight ahead not giving anything away. "Is it true that you killed 4 of the 7 Strigoi?"

Ok, that wasn't what I was expecting but I ran with it. "Yes, that is true."

She pursed her lips. "How did you kill them?"

My jaw locked for a moment before replying. "I used Guardian Karev's stake after he lost his life, trying to protect Lady Vasilisa Dragomir and myself." Please don't ask me how, please don't ask me how. I chanted.

She seemed to read my silent plea's and gave me a small nod. "You must know Rosemarie that there are very few Moroi that have killed Strigoi before."

"I do" I nodded. Not knowing where she was going with this.

"I am going to give you the same choice that they were given. You are not a Guardian nor are you a Novice or Dhampir, but you have killed Strigoi and that can be recognised. You have the opportunity should you so wish, to receive Molnija marks." I'm pretty sure I would have laughed at my own expression if I wasn't so shocked.

Thoughts were running through my mind. The Queen was giving me permission to get Molnija marks like Guardians did. It was something I had never considered even after making the decision to fight against Strigoi. It could count as a small reminder of my plan to change our world. Other Moroi could view the marks and possibly think about learning to fight like I had to protect themselves. Did I want those marks on my skin, reminding me about those savage beasts? No, I didn't. But maybe those marks could be a reminder of Guardians Vetrov and Karev and how they lost their lives in the battle. With that thought I had my answer. "I would be honoured to receive the Molnija marks Queen Ivashkov."

Tatiana watched me closely, I held her gaze. "Ellen, will you please give the Princess and I some privacy."

"Certainly Queen Ivashkov" Kirova stood up and left the room.

When the door closed behind her Tatiana relaxed back into her seat. "I'm proud of you Rose, you mother and father would be too."

My brows rose, I'm sure my face resembled a fish out of water. "Uhh... Thank you?" It came out as a question.

Tatiana chuckled. Like actually _chuckled_. "Don't look so shocked Rose, I knew about your father's wishes for Moroi to fight. We spoke many times on the topic, unfortunately your father and I were out voted on our proposal to allow Moroi to learn to fight and use offensive magic. After your parents passed I thought that would be then end of it. Until I seen the fight in you, I see the way you look at other royals and their guardians. You want change Rose and you are not the only one. I assigned Guardian Belikov to you in the hopes that it would further push your resolve. It is not a coincidence that you are the only student on campus that has a free period every day and you didn't disappoint when you continued your training during those times. I didn't expect for the training to be necessary so soon though. It is easy for me to say that Moroi can fight Strigoi but another to actually do it myself. You have Rose. You have gone against Strigoi and came away with your life. You are the beginning of a new generation Rose. Which brings me to my point, I want you Princess Rosemarie Mazur, to be my successor to the throne."

I gasped. Tatiana the Queen who I have fought with a lot these last few years, wants me to become Queen. Is she frigging serious? "I am not sure I am the perfect person to lead Queen Ivashkov. I don't know anything about ruling over our world. Any of the other Prince's or Princesses would fit straight into the job better than I."

"Which is why I want you to be Queen, Rose. They would just take over and continue my legacy. But you will change it. Will you agree to look after the Moroi and Dhampir world when I am ready to step down Rose?"

I was speechless. Rose Mazur was speechless. It was not something that happened... Ever. Did I want that? Could I do that? I always wanted to change our world but I had never thought of taking that further than my Princess status. I thought about my mother who spent her life teaching me how to be a strong woman on the inside and my father who taught me to be strong on the outside. "My Mum and Dad knew about this didn't they?"

She smiled the first true smile I had ever seen on her face. "Yes Rose, they did."

So many memories were flooding me. My father showing me how to use a stake. Us sparring together against Guardian Pavel. My mother reprimanding me for punching a novice and breaking his nose for teasing Christian after his parents were killed. The sparks in her eyes as she told me that that behaviour was unacceptable. Her eyes betrayed her emotions, she was proud of me. I thought about perfect Lissa that had been in my life for as long as I could remember. She was always by my side. I rarely made a decision without her. I knew that if I chose to do this she would be right there with me. And Dimitri who was looking as badass as ever against the wall towering over Tatiana's Guardians. I had told him my biggest and darkest secrets and he taken it all in and still vowed to protect me and even help me learn more. I knew I wouldn't be alone if this was what I wanted. I could imagine a world where Moroi and Dhampir fought together, more lives would be saved. I had been imagining it for the last three years, and Tatiana was giving me the opportunity to actually do that.

"Yes" I whispered.

Tatiana leaned forward. "Pardon?"

"Yes, I'll do it." I said louder, stronger. Looking her straight in the eyes.

I felt Dimitri's eyes on me, I looked up to see pride in his eyes. He held my gaze, showing me everything he wanted to voice through his brown eyes. Tatiana must have noticed my attention was diverted because she looked up at Dimitri too than back to me and back again. "Guardian Belikov, will you please join us." She gestured to the seat Kirova had vacated.

"Yes your majesty." He nodded, taking the seat.

"Do you agree with what I have said?" She asked him.

"Yes, Princess Mazur is strong, trustworthy, she fights for what she believes is right. She is an amazing person and she will make an excellent queen."

My mouth dropped. Even Tatiana seemed shocked. I think we were both expecting a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Tatiana seemed to recover quicker than I though and she nodded. Her eyes glazed over in thought before she turned back to Dimitri and then me. I could see a twinkle in her eye. "Well, this certainly changes things."

I frowned. "What does?"

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about." She said off handily.

"I want you to finish the last 2 months here at St Vladimir's, after you graduate I want you at the Royal Court and we can start your training then to take over as my successor. Do you have anything to add?"

"I agree with all of that. I just ask that this be kept between us until after graduation."

She nodded. "I think that's wise Rose. Of course, you may let Vasilisa know. I know you will need her support."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome Rose. I need to be getting back to Court. Good luck with you study's Rose. I will see you back at the Royal Court in 2 months' time." I nodded and stood up, Dimitri stood by my side as we walked towards the door. "Oh and Guardian Belikov" Tatiana called out making us both turn back. "Take good care of her." She gave him a stern look.

"Of course, your majesty." She nodded and smiled again turning away. I walked numbly passed the Guardians and out the door.

Dimitri fell into step beside me as we made our way back towards the dorms. People were walking around us on their way to the cafeteria for lunch but I didn't look up to meet any of their eyes. "What just happened?" I whispered to Dimitri. His lips twitched but he didn't say anything eyeing the people close to us.

We walked up the stairs to my dorm and opened the door to see Lissa sitting anxiously on the bed. She jumped up when she seen me. "Rose! What happened?"

I heard the door locked behind me and knew Dimitri was inside with us, making sure we had privacy. "I'm going to be queen." I whispered in response.

"WHAT!?" She screeched.

I looked up to meet her eyes. "I'm going to be Queen and I'm getting Molnija marks for the Strigoi I killed."

Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. When she finally got control of her jaw she spoke. "Come again?"

I chuckled worriedly. "I'm getting Molnija Marks for the Strigoi I killed yesterday and the Queen asked me to be her successor. I start training at Court after graduation to become Queen."

"Holy shit"

"My thoughts exactly."

If I wasn't so shocked still I would have laughed at Lissa's words. She never said 'shit' that was more a Rose thing to say. Well maybe not anymore I was going to become queen, I guess that means that curse words were out the window. Shit. I scowled.

"How do you feel about all of this?" She whispered as we took a seat on my bed.

"I don't really know. Maybe she's insane, that's why she chose me." I see Dimitri frown out the corner of my eye. "What?"

"You are going to make a great queen, Rose. You are a great choice to look after our world and to do exactly what Queen Ivashkov said and change it for the better."

"What does she want changed?" Lissa asked.

"She wants Moroi to learn how to fight too, she thinks I'm a good example. She's definitely insane."

"No, Dimitri's right. You will make a great queen Rose. Think of all the good things you can do! How many lives will be saved if you got Moroi to fight with the Guardians. You can stop all the discrimination against Dhampir that choose not to be Guardians." I could see Dimitri's interest peak at that. I hadn't spoken to Lissa about wanting to fight with the Guardians but it seemed like we were both on the same page regardless. "I've got to go and get back to class. Here" She handed me some bags. "It's your dress, one of the Guardians brought out things back."

I groaned. "I completely forgot about the dance."

Lissa laughed. "You'll be fine Rose. I'll come over around midnight tomorrow and we can get ready together?"

"Sure Liss"

"Alright bye" She waved to us both and left.

Dimitri chuckled after she left. "Don't look so scared Rose."

"Scared? I'm going to be Queen one day Dimitri, I'm terrified! I can't believe Tatiana, wants most of the things I do."

"Yes, that shocked me also."

"What do I do?"

"You finish school Rose, and then after that we will go to Court and you will learn how to do this from the Queen herself, ok? Lissa is going to be right there with you and I... I'm not going anywhere. You _can_ do this Roza, I know you can."

"You know Dimitri for my Guardian, you ain't half bad."

He chuckled. "Come on lets go get you some food."

 **A nice Queen Bitch... What is the Moroi world coming to?**

 **What do you guys think about Tatiana and her idea to give Rose the throne?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - The Dance**

"Bright Red or Nude?" I asked Lissa holding up the first two lipsticks I found in my makeup bag.

Lissa pursed her lips, scrutinising my face. "Neither. Let me see that bag." She pushed the make up around in the bag until she found what she was looking for. "Here"

She handed me a tube it looked like a deep dark red. "Not bad Liss" I said putting it on in the mirror and stepped back to get the full view.

The black dress clung to my curves perfectly. My rings and earrings glistened in the light of my dorm. And my pumps made my legs look longer. Lissa had styled my hair giving me large soft curls and my long fringe was swept nicely to the side of my face. Lissa came to stand beside me, her blonde hair was pinned up and had a couple of loose strands around her face. She had light make up and her dress made her matching eyes stand out perfectly.

She smiled at me. "I better go and meet Christian downstairs."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell Sparky he has to share you for a few dances tonight."

She laughed before walking to the door. "Don't worry, he won't keep me away."

"Good" She opened the door and turned to the side I heard Dimitri's voice greeting her. Ok, this is it Rose. Time to shine and make a certain Russian see what he's missing. I smirked before grabbing my stake from under my bed, I put it inside my clutch and walked out. I closed the door behind me and Dimitri turned around and froze.

His eyes ran over my body, leaving a burn all over my skin. "Hey Comrade"

"Roza"

I smiled. Huh, better reaction than I thought I'd get from him. He seemed to say 'Roza' when he was being more affectionate towards me. "I like the way you say my name in Russian." Dimitri blinked before his Guardian mask went up. Shit, you had to take it too far Rose. Dimitri turned around looking up and down the hall. "Alright, let's go." I muttered.

We walked in silence to the cafeteria that had been decorated to the point that you couldn't even tell we were anywhere near the cafeteria we ate at every day. White curtains lined the walls and hung from crystal chandeliers above. Twinkle lights hung from wall to wall above the white tables and a large dance floor took up the back of the room, lasers and other lights lit it up the area. I spotted Mason first he looked up sensing my eyes on him and gaped. I smirked and made my way over to him.

I closed his mouth with my hand. "You don't want to catch flies."

It broke him out of his trance. "Rose, you look hot."

I laughed "Thanks Mase"

"Want to dance?"

I turned to see Dimitri against the wall near some other guardians, who looked away before our eyes made contact. "Sure" I said turning back to Mason. He grinned and led me over towards the dance floor by my hand. Mason had always had a thing for me, but I never returned the feelings. Sure he was good to look at and I had fun flirting with him, but that was as far as it went. After a few dances we walked back to a table our group occupied.

"So the Strigoi didn't take a bite out of you? Damn."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut it fire crotch or one might think you were a little jealous."

"Jealous? Of _you_?"

I nodded. "I figured you'd want the Molnija Marks."

His eyes widened and I heard the table go silent. "They're giving you Molnija's?"

I turned to Lissa. "You didn't tell him?"

She shook her head. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to tell anyone about the meeting so I didn't say anything."

I smiled at her. "Thanks Liss." She winked, I knew she wouldn't say anything about the Queen issue.

"Wait! Seriously they are giving you the marks?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, Queen Tatiana said I could have them if I wanted."

"Wow" Mason's eyes shown with wonder.

"How'd you do it Rose?" Natalie asked. She was usually the quietest of us all until you asked her a question that is than she didn't shut up.

"Do what?"

"Kill the Strigoi."

"Ohh" I felt uncomfortable suddenly with everyone's eyes on me again. "I staked them."

Her eyes widened. "Isn't that like really hard to do?"

"You haven't seen her fight." Mason jumped in for the save. "The woman's a badass." I smiled but it was fake. I stole Lissa away from Fire Crotch to dance for a few songs. "Hey Liss, I'm going to get another drink, do you want one?"

"Yes please, I'll meet you back at the table?" I nodded and left the dance floor and headed towards one of the tables that had drinks.

"Hello, Rose."

I turned to the sound of my name to find Prince Victor Dashkov, Natalie's ill father. "Hello, Prince Dashkov."

"Rose, please call me Viktor." I nodded and gave him a smile. Viktor's health was quickly deteriorating he looked twice his age physically the Syndovsky Syndrome had certainly taken it's tole on him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing ok Rose, were working on a treatment." I smiled. I knew the disease was taking its toll on him and Natalie was suffering because of it. If they could find a cure or something to prolong the time he had left that would be great.

"Well I hope it all goes well Viktor. I have to get this drink back to Lissa."

"Thank you Rose, I best be heading off now anyway. I'll see you soon." He had a strange spark in his eyes as he said that before walking off. I shrugged it off and walked back to the table.

I danced with everyone in our group and even managed to get one in with Sparky although we spent the whole song throwing snarky comments at one another. I wouldn't have it any other way. When the night was winding down I said goodnight to the others. Mason looked like he wanted to say something more but I didn't give him a chance before making my way over to Dimitri.

We walked out and make our way towards the dorms. The sun was still a couple of hours away from coming up and the yards were eerily quiet. I couldn't even see and Guardians. We went around the back of the classrooms, when I stopped. Dimitri must have realised the same thing I did because he pulled out his stake and stepped closer to me. The lights on this side of the campus were off. Dimitri grabbed onto my arm and pulled my close to a wall. He looked around trying to see anything out of the ordinary. I did the same, my senses were slightly better than a Dhampir's. "Dimitri, where are the Guardians?" I whispered.

"I don't know" He took a few steps forward and squinted into the darkness. I followed his line of sight.

I could just make out a pair of red eyes and another to the right of the first pair. My first thought was Strigoi but as I looked closer the dark outline of the body's came into view. "Psi Hound" I whispered. He nodded. "Run?" I asked him in a whisper.

"No they will outrun us easily." He stepped back until I was pushed between the wall behind me and Dimitri's back. "Stay close Rose" he whispered. I nodded.

We watched as the two animals came closer. They were easily larger than any dog I had ever seen. Their eyes were bright red and they had razor sharp teeth that were easier to see as they stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. The first one looked the most menacing, he snarled from about 30 feet away. It's fur was black all over and it's large paws scraped at the dirt under them. The second was silver and had patches of brown over it. Psi Hounds were almost extinct, they were trained by Moroi many years before either Dimitri or I were born. The black one pulled back and howled loudly into the sky above. The other followed, a moment later they both charged.

Dimitri took one step forward and got into a fighting crouch. I shoved my hand into my purse until I felt the cool touch of silver and wrapped my hand around it before dropping the bag at my feet. Fighting Strigoi and fighting a Psi Hound were too completely different things. I didn't even know if a stake could kill a Psi Hound, and I _really_ didn't know where their hearts were to test out the theory. But hell I was going to try. I held the stake in my right hand and felt the warmth of fire under the surface in my left. I was ready. When the black hound was a few meters from us Dimitri ran forward. It opened its mouth to bite when Dimitri elbowed its mouth out of the way and the animal ended up biting air. The silver hound completely jumped over both the black hound and Dimitri and went for me. I let my instincts take control and threw the fire out. I jumped to the side just as it lunged for me. Instead it hit the wall and fell to the ground.

I jumped up and leapt onto it's back. It was almost like sitting on top of a horse with its massive size. My stake slashed at its back. It didn't even howl. Ok, silver hurt Psi Hounds, but maybe a stake still could. It's massive head turned back to bite me but I used the stake again and went straight for its nose. The stake dug in a few inches before the animal shook it's head and sent it flying into the darkness. "Shit" I cursed. I gave a quick glance back to Dimitri and noticed that he was doing slightly better than I. But the animal was still fighting hard. I turned back as she stood up. My fingers dug into its neck. I was still perched on its back. I held on as tight as I could but it was easily shaking my hands away with a flick of its head, trying to take nips at my hands. _Magic, don't fail me now_. My hands warmed and I sent all the fire I could muster out of my hands. The area around us lit up with the orange light of the flames.

The animal finally howled in pain. The only problem was that when it sat up, I went flying onto my back behind it. I stood up and felt Dimitri's body only inches away from my back still fighting hard. "Rose?"

"I'm ok, how do we kill them?"

"I think our best bet from what you just did is fire." I nodded even though he couldn't see me. The silver Psi Hound turned around and when it seen me it lunged forward. I held up both my hands, and sent out everything I had. Flames shot out of my palm's igniting the whole torso of the beast. She whined and cowered before turning and running away from us, I watched until I couldn't see the flames anymore and turned around to see Dimitri.

He was bleeding from several places, mostly his arms. "Dimitri move!" He didn't hesitate as he stepped back. I did the same thing again sending out everything I had at the black hound. It was like having flame throwers for hands. _Sweet_. It howled and a moment later took off after the silver hound. We both watched it go.

I stepped back and grabbed my bag off the ground and held onto Dimitri's hand. "Let's go before they come back." I muttered. He didn't need to be told twice before we ran to the nearest building entrance which was the Guardian headquarters, I couldn't see anyone inside, but the whole building was pitch black I couldn't really see much further than the door. I ran to the phone that sat on a desk to the right. "It's working!"

Dimitri took it out of my hands and dialled a number. "Guardian Petrov, it's Belikov. We've been under attack... No, Psi Hounds... Yes, she's alright... Where at headquarters... There's no power... Ok" He hung up. "Come on." he said grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall towards his room. He walked in and did a quick scout before ushering me inside.

"What did she say?"

"They're putting the school into lock down and sending Guardian's out to see if they can find them. Apparently there was a fire over by the administration building and the Guardians here, went to help put it out."

I walked over to Dimitri's bed and sat down. "Let me see your injuries."

"Rose, I'm fine."

I rolled my eyes. "Dimitri if we get attacked again tonight you should be at your full potential." Even I thought that that was hard to argue with. He sighed and locked the door behind him and sat down on the bed and held out his hands. I looked them over and paused biting my bottom lip.

"Rose?" He asked when I didn't do anything.

"Uhh... You need to take your shirt off Dimitri." He looked at his arms and realised what I meant.

 **Swooooon. :)**

 **How are you guys enjoying the story so far?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers!**

 **I do not own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within.**

 **Chapter 10 - Molnija**

He stood back up and unbuttoned his shirt. I tried to keep my eyes on anything but his undressing but it wasn't an easy task, I knew that if I caught sight of it I wouldn't be able to look away. I heard the fabric hit the floor and Dimitri sat back down. Don't look Rose. Don't look at his chest. My eyes went to his arms instead, which were still extremely distracting but I ignored the muscles as much as possible. He had many scratches and a few areas that had chunks of skin ripped out. I lifted my hand over those ones first and waited until the magic flowed from me into him. They healed quickly and I moved onto the other cuts until his arms were all clear and mouth-watering. "Anywhere else?" I asked, desperately trying not to look at his chest.

He didn't answer straight away and I looked up into his eyes to see them staring right back at me. "Your amazing Roza" I smiled.

"I am?"

He nodded. "I don't know how you do it and I'm not just talking about the magic. We were just attacked out there _again_ and you're not scared, frightened or worried. Most people would be sitting in a corner crying, but not you. No, you fought Strigoi two days ago and Psi Hounds just now without any hesitation or any knowledge on how to actually kill them."

I felt my cheeks heat from the compliment. "I... I'm not frightened, because your here Dimitri."

His eyes held mine for what felt like hours. We just sat there looking at one another. I thought of everything I wanted to say to him yet couldn't. I was still underage, he was my Guardian and therefore if we had a relationship it could compromise how he protected me and they might send him away, and it could ruin us both socially, not that I cared about that part. He was a member of the staff here at St Vlad's. Therefore he might as well have been my teacher. And yet I want nothing more than to lean in and kiss him. I could see him reading it all. He understood, we both did. This couldn't happen. I finally broke eye contact.

"Do you think we're stuck in here for a while?"

"Yeah" he sighed standing up and looking out the window. "Get some sleep Rose. I'll wake you if anything happens."

I nodded and yawned. Dimitri pulled the covers of his blanket back. "Lay with me?" I whispered. He hesitated and our eyes met again before he nodded. "Do you have anything I can sleep in? I love the dress but not that much." He looked down after I mentioned the dress and his eyes ran over the material. He shook his head and got up and opened a wardrobe door and pulled out a white t-shirt that would fit me like a dress. "Thanks."

I changed in Dimitri's bathroom leaving myself only in my Victoria secret panties and Dimitri's shirt. I emerged from the bathroom to see Dimitri sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. I walked over to him and leant down. Until we were eye level. "You ok Comrade?" I said softly. He nodded before sitting up and gesturing for me to climb in. I did as he asked and I swear he stopped breathing when I finally came into his line of sight. Dimitri climbed in beside me and got comfortable.

After a few minutes of silence I decided to break it. "Do you know what this means?"

"Hmm?"

I turned over until I was facing him. "It means that I have a Moroi enemy that wants me dead. Psi Hounds don't attack anything unless their master commanded them too."

He froze for a moment before turning to me. "Your right."

"I usually am."

Dimitri chuckled. "Who would want you killed Rose?"

I thought about it for a while. "Well I'm a Moroi that not only knows how to fight but can do more magic than anyone I know. Which could be an issue to any Moroi that didn't want to fight. I'm princess and soon-to-be queen. So I guess anyone that had their heart set on something like that wouldn't be all that thrilled. And that's not including the enemies I've made just because I have a bit of an attitude. They are a few reasons but no, no one I can think of that would want me dead. Except perhaps Kirova, but I'll be out of her hair soon anyway." I chuckled at my own joke. Dimitri gave me a stern look that said that this wasn't something to joke about. I sighed "Sorry."

He gave me a small smile. "Go to sleep Rose."

I nodded. "Goodnight Comrade."

"Goodnight Roza."

I woke up the next morning to see Dimitri lying beside me wide awake. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Someone had to make sure you weren't attacked again."

"Dimitri" I whined "you need sleep."

"No, I'm fine Rose. I'm use to not getting much sleep. You've been spoiling me Rose" I sighed but didn't argue the matter. Dimitri showered and changed before we headed back to my dorm room.

Guardians were out in full force after last night's attack. "Any word on the Psi Hounds?" I asked Dimitri and he scanned the area.

"I checked in with Guardian Petrov before you woke. The fire that distracted the Guardians had been created by a Moroi but no one seen it happen and after a full campus search the Psi Hounds were nowhere to be found." I nodded figuring as much.

I didn't expect to see Kirova this early in the morning but here she was walking straight towards Dimitri and I. How unlucky, I was only 10 meters away from being able to escape her into the Moroi housing. "Rosemarie."

"Ellen."

She glared at me and I smirked back. "Oh, I'm so sorry, how rude of me Headmistress Kirova." I half faked innocence.

"Queen Ivashkov has organised your Molnija ceremony for today, both you and Guardian Belikov will receive your marks. Meet at the Guardian Headquarters in an hour." With that she turned on her heel and strutted off. I gave Dimitri a sad look before we entered the building. Thankfully it seemed as though no one knew about mine and Dimitri's involvement in the attack last night. So we made it to the door without any more interruptions.

Dimitri held the door for me and closed it behind him. "What do you wear to a Molnija Ceremony?" I asked him scanning my closet. I was still wearing the dress from last night. I didn't need any rumours spread as to why I was only wearing one of Dimitri's shirts and nothing else.

"Usually... Guardian uniform."

"Oh, right." I muttered feeling stupid for asking. Of course that's what they wore, it was what they always did. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to find the perfect outfit. "You know what? Screw it" I said grabbing the outfit I had been tossing up about wearing or not.

I walked into the bathroom to shower and then did my hair pulling it up into a high bun so the tattooist had better access to the back of my neck. I did minimal make up and threw the clothes on. I wore a black suit and white buttoned top underneath. It was Guardian uniform except for the fact my suit was fitted to my curves, the pants were skinny legs and it all had a designer label. I didn't want to be disrespectful to the Guardians by matching them completely. I was still the Princess and a Moroi after all. I grabbed my black pumps from last night and put them back on and added a thick gold twisted chain around my neck and matching stud earrings. Much better. I now looked like a professional princess and guardian all in one.

I walked out to Dimitri and turned in a full circle. "What do you think?"

"Uhh.." "Comrade?" I asked when he didn't say anything.

"It's perfect Rose."

I grinned. "Ok let's go get some food before we leave for headquarters." We stopped at the feeders first and then made our way to the cafeteria. By the time I sat down with the food in front of me, I felt nauseous. Just thinking about what was about to happen, made my appetite disappear. Lissa gave me worried looks but didn't push the matter.

I walked toward the table the Guardians sat at. Dimitri looked up straight away. His lips formed a fine line but he didn't say anything. He knew. "Come on Rose, let's go get this over with." All I could do was nod and let Dimitri lead me away.

When we got to the Guardian Headquarters a bunch of them filed inside and through large double doors down the end of the hallway. The room was large and looked like it was where they held all their meetings. There were only two seats in the room and a Moroi man covered in tattoo's was setting up some equipment beside them. Dimitri led me over to the seats and made me sit down and he took the seat beside me. The room quieted down as all eyes turned to us. No one spoke, no one smiled. They just stood around with mournful looks on their faces. I dropped my head so they couldn't see the tear that escaped my eye.

The tattoo's hurt. Molnija meant 'lightening' in Russia and that was exactly what the tattoos were two jagged lightening lines crossed over to form an 'X'. When the tattooist finished he moved onto Dimitri. I didn't look up once the entire time. The events of the car park were going through my head over and over. Watching Guardian Vetrov get his neck snapped and the sickening sound of it. Seeing Guardian Karev fall and the blood thirsty Strigoi drink from him until there was nothing left. My heart ached more than my neck did.

When Dimitri's was finished that man gave me a mirror and held one behind me, I angled it to see the tattoo's. "Everyone I have done Molnija tattoo's on had a 'Promise' mark to signify that they were Guardians. I've never had to do this one someone that didn't have one." He said softly into my ear. Four small crosses sat at the top of my neck in a line going straight down my spine. I gave him back the mirror and nodded. He gave me a small smile and offered the mirror to Dimitri who shook his head.

One by one the Guardians walked towards us offering words of encouragement to the both of us. "You did well, Princess."

Some gave me small smiles and a hug. A couple leaned forward and kissed me cheek.

"I am proud of you Rose." Alberta said when it was her turn and she pulled me in for a warm hug. I had always liked Alberta, she was one of my father's Guardian before she was assigned here so I had known her my whole life.

Stan was the last one to come forward, I was expecting a stern glance and maybe even a flare of his large nostrils. What I wasn't expecting was "I'm proud of you Rose, it's an honour to defend Moroi like yourself."

No one said 'congratulations' and for the I was glad. There was no glory in death. After that they exited the room leaving Dimitri and I alone. I walked over to a window that overlooked the courtyard below. Dimitri's hand rested on my shoulder as he stood beside me. "That wasn't what I was expecting." I whispered but I knew he could hear me.

"It wasn't for me either the first time I got a mark." I nodded. I was expecting to feel happy about getting my marks. But in reality it was like a small funeral for the deaths you took and the lives that were lost in battle.

 **What do you guys think of Dimitri and Rose at the moment?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Graduation and Court**

Thankfully the next few weeks went without any deadly issues. I was starting to get a bit excited about moving to Court. Lissa was adamant that she would be with me through everything. Naturally Sparky was going to join us as well, he was stoked when I told him about Tatiana wanting to allow Moroi to fight. Exams came and went, I didn't do perfect like Lissa but I was still happy with the results. Training with Dimitri had started, we spent a lot of time going over everything that I knew so he could start from what I needed to learn next. We were going to start as soon as we were settled into Court.

Today was graduation, and tomorrow we were going to The Royal Court. By tonight we would no longer be students of St Vladimir's Academy, Mason and Eddie will be Guardian Ashford and Guardian Castile and we would be saying goodbye to the St Vlad's in the morning. I'm not going to lie, I was shit scared. But I held my head high and smiled as Lissa and I walked towards the Ceremonial Hall which was used for special occasions.

My hand was clutched tightly in hers. We wore our graduation gowns over our dresses and held the graduation caps in the other hand. Kirova stood on the stage and the chairs around the room were filled with families. I grinned when I spotted Rhea and Eric. They were the closest thing I had to a family outside of the academy. They gave us both waves before we were ushered forward and into alphabetical order.

I zoned out of Kirova's speech. I had enough of them over the years to last two lifetimes. I watched Eric and Rhea cheer for Lissa as Kirova called her name. Christian and I joined in yelling and whistling under she went a deep shade of red. It saddened me as my eyes ran over the crowded room that my parents weren't here standing next to the Dragomir's. I could just imagine my father cheering me on louder than anybody else as I walked across the stage, his greying beard and the ridiculous silk scarves he always wore. My mother would have trouble keeping him from embarrassing us both because that's just what Abe did. But she would also be secretly happy that he showed his love for his family to anyone that would listen.

 _This, all of it, is for you both._ "Princess Rosemarie Mazur" always with the frigging full name. I wasn't expecting as much noise as I got as I made my way to Kirova. She shook my hand and her lips twitched. For a moment I thought she was going to smile. What was the world coming to? Instead she said. "Congratulations Rose. Now please, don't come back." She whispered the last part.

I laughed and gave her a genuine smile. "Wouldn't dream of it, Ellen."

Her eyes narrowed a touch but she didn't say anything else as she handed me my graduating certificate. I did a quick glance out to the crowd, Lissa was out of her seat as was Eric and Rhea. Mason, Eddie were wolf whistling from the graduating novice line and Alberta had stood away from her post along the wall to clap. My eyes scanned the walls until they fell onto Dimitri. His guarding mask was in place but his eyes were on me, telling me how proud he was.

I knew as I made my way back down the stairs that this was the beginning. The beginning to a whole new life. One with my friends close beside me, the ones I loved most. It wasn't going to easy, my life never was. But I knew, that one day all the struggles that are about to begin... They would be worth it in the end.

"Come on Rose!" Lissa said pulling me from my comfortable seat and down the aisle towards the exit of the plane. She had a shit-eating grin on her face. I was about as excited to get off the plane as Sparky was. Lissa held onto him with her other arm, when we made eye contact he rolled his eyes and nodded towards Lissa. Making me snicker and picking up my mood slightly. Rhea, Eric followed the three of us off the plane towards the cars parked close by.

I pulled out of Lissa's surprisingly firm grip. She turned around and frowned. "This is where I leave you Liss. Go unpack and we can meet later for dinner." She frowned but agreed.

I walked over to Dimitri who was grabbing our bags. "This is us." I pointed to the familiar black SUV my father owned. I asked to carry my own bags but the Guardian driving the SUV interrupted Dimitri's reply.

"Princess Mazur. My name is Guardian Annikov and I have been asked to help you get settled in." He dropped into a bow.

"Thank you Guardian Annikov." You're a princess Rose, you better start acting like it. I let him grab the last two bags and followed him to the car.

We drove through the streets of the Royal Court. In truth Court looked like a large gated community that held huge homes, shops, restaurants. It had a lot of fun things to do, cinema's, ice skating rink. A few clubs, not that I had even been to those though. I still had another three days before I was 18 and considered an adult Moroi. Townhouses were everywhere, but we drove past them all and on towards the centre of Court, which was a large white building that looked like a modern day castle. It was Queen Tatiana's chambers as well as the building most of the Princes and Princesses conducted their business 'Royal Parliament'. I was going to be spending a lot of time there. I hadn't been back there since my parent's funeral.

Guardian Annikov drove past and took a right down another street, the car slowed down and two large black gates opened letting us in. He drove down the driveway and pulled up at the front door. I took a few calming breathes after Annikov held the door for me and climbed out. Dimitri walked around the car and stood beside me. "Rose, I thought we were going to Moroi housing?" Moroi housing was where guests of Court stayed on vacations and where all the new graduates would be going today while they waited for permanent housing to open up so they could buy.

I stood at the bottom of the steps and looked around. Two large creamed columns sat on either side of the wide steps reaching above the black double door and above the second story to the dark roof. Two large windows were on either side of the front door. The house was a mansion, garden lights lit up the cream stone walls. The gardens were perfectly kept, along the driveway and down towards the gates we had come from.

A tear ran down my face. "Rose." Dimitri whispered realising that something was up "What is it?"

"This is my parents' house." I told him still looking around the grounds. We didn't say anything for a minute. I heard Guardian Annikov behind me when he realised we hadn't gone inside yet. He stood still and waited.

"You don't have to stay here Roza" Dimitri whispered so Annikov couldn't hear us.

I smiled and turned to him. "Yes, I do. This is my home. They would want me here." I gave his arm a small squeeze telling him I'd be ok and walked up the stairs and through the front doors.

The foyer was large, the floor was white and grey marble. Stairs went up either side of the entry and met in the middle on the floor above. The kitchen and dining rooms were to the right and the living area and home theatre were to the left on the first floor. Out through the wide door underneath the stair case was a large patio that led out onto the lawn and a lap pool. I walked around taking it all in, it was exactly how I left it. When I did a full loop and made it back to the foyer, I thanked Guardian Annikov and said my goodbyes after he brought our bags in.

"Come on Comrade I want to show you your room." I grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs. "I can stay with the other Guardian's Rose, you don't need to give me a room."

"What and get this big old house all to myself? Where's the fun in that? There's 6 bedrooms up here, Mum and Dad's is down the hall, there." I pointed to the double doors to my right. "These are the guest rooms and that's mine." I pointed to the double doors to my left. "You can chose out of the guest rooms, but I recommend this one."

I opened the door closest to mine and lead him in. The room had a queen bed against one wall. It had a small sitting area next to a fireplace and a large window overlooking the pool below. I opened the door next to the closet and pointed inside. "This is the bathroom, shower, bath and double vanity." I walked back in as Dimitri looked around. "I thought you'd like this one better than the other guest rooms. They don't have the fire place and I can imagine you sitting there with one of your books."

He smiled and looked at the leather chairs. "Thank you Rose. But you don't have to do this, I'll be comfortable in Guardian Quarters." I took a couple of steps closer to him until our chests were within an inch of the other. He stopped breathing and I caught his gaze and held it.

"If you want to leave and stay in the Guardian room's I won't hold it against you. But I personally would like you to stay here, with me Dimitri." I didn't wait for a reply before I stood up on my toes and kissed his cheek softly and walked out of the room and into my own.

My bed was against the West wall of the house, a white sheer canopy was attached to the roof handing over the bed. The doors of my walk-in-closet were to my right and my bathroom doors to my left. One of the large windows over looked the front yard and the other overlooked the back pool like Dimitris. I had my own sitting area near the back window. I walked towards the shelves lining one wall and my eyes ran over the photos. One of our group at school about 4 years ago. Another of Lissa and I at a ball we had to attend with our parents when we were 13. The last ones were of my parents and I.

More tears fell from my eyes. "Come on Rose." I scolded myself. "Enough crying, you've done enough of that lately. Make them proud." I smiled with more determination than I had on the plane and walked back downstairs to grab my bags. When I finished unpacking I went down to the kitchen to grab some lunch. I put together a sandwich, thankful I had asked the houses maid to stock the shelves before I left St Vlad's. Vera was a nice old lady, she had always managed to come by clean and leave again before you even realised she was there. My parents had paid big money to have her around and now I was.

I had inherited a lot after they died. Money, businesses, homes. One of my father's business associates had looked after everything while I was at school and I planned on taking over everything after I was settled into my queen training. I heard footsteps on the stairs and walked out to see Dimitri pick up his bags. My heart ached for a moment when I thought he was going to leave, instead he smiled at me and walked back up the stairs bags in hand.

 **You just can't help but fall head over heels for Dimitri can you?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Guardian Training**

"Comrade!" I called from the living room an hour later.

"Yes, Rose?" I heard him head towards me.

"I need to make a trip to the feeders before we meet with Lissa and Christian for dinner. So we should probably head out in 10."

He nodded "Ok, I'll just grab something to eat before we leave."

I frowned as he turned around and headed towards the kitchen. "Comrade!" I called again, he paused and looked over his shoulder. "You are coming to dinner _with_ us." He gave me a confused look. "I feel like I'm repeating myself constantly. We are equals Dimitri. You are coming to dinner with Lissa, Sparky and I and we are all going to sit down and enjoy a delicious meal _together_. Unless you have somewhere else to be of course? You don't actually need to be with me all the time here at Court. Strigoi aren't getting to get to me in here anytime soon, it's protected way better than the academy." Dimitri raised one of his brows and gave me a pointed look. "Oh" I laughed without humour. "Right" Of course Strigoi, aren't my only problem anymore. "Do you really think, whoever was behind the attack with the Psi Hounds followed us here?"

"I'm not sure Rose and until I am sure. I'm not letting you out of my sight." I couldn't help the fact my lips pulled up into a smile.

"Well than it looks like we have dinner to get too tonight. But I want you to promise me something first."

He walked over to where I was sitting. "Anything, Rose" He said with complete seriousness.

"I mean what I say Dimitri. I may have places to go, but so do you. So whatever you feel like doing whether it's going to get a bite to eat somewhere, going to the Guardian gym here, maybe you just want to go feed the _ducks_ by one of the ponds. I don't care, any of it. I want you to tell me, we can either go together or if that's not possible I'll let you find another Guardian to stay with me if that makes things easier. Can you do that for me at least until they assign me my second Guardian?" I knew that they would sign me a second one sometime this week, as a Princess it was standard to have two or more. I just hoped whoever it was, they were at least half as easy to be around as Dimitri is.

He thought about it for a long moment. "Ok, I can agree to that. Do you want to start your training up tomorrow? We can go to the Guardian gym for training."

I grinned and stood up. "I want to show you something."

I lead him out the back door and down the patio towards the building at the back of the property. "I don't think anyone would be too pleased to see you beating up a Princess, Dimitri. This" I opened the doors and turned the lights on "is where my father and his Guardians used to train. I can even use my magic in here to practise without worrying about anyone walking in." The room was large and open. Light blue mats covered the floor. A weight area was to the right and a sparring area to the left. Eight practise dummies sat at the back of the room and a cabinet holding some stakes, both real and practise ones sat beside them.

"You have your own gym?"

I shrugged. "It's ours now."

Dimitri drove the SUV to the nearest feeding centre. The woman at reception bowed "Princess Mazur. Please follow me." She led me into one of the rooms with a human inside. "Is this to your liking?" The woman asked motioning to the woman in the seat.

"Uh, yes. Thank you" She bowed again before walking out and closing the door behind Dimitri. "I'm not sure I'll ever get use to that." I muttered and made me way over to the human.

After I fed Dimitri drove us to the restaurant Lissa had picked out for us. It was one of the best in Court. We were the first to arrive and we were seated at a table. "Can I get you anything Princess Mazur?" The waiter asked.

"A glass of water would be nice. Would you like anything Dimitri?" I asked purposely making the waiter give him some attention also.

He seemed a little stunned that Dimitri had taken a seat, then even more so when I asked him if he wanted anything. "A water would be great, thank you." I grabbed the menu and held it up making the waiter walk away.

"So rude" I said under my breath.

Dimitri gave me an amused smile. "It's how things are Rose. Do you see any other Guardians eating in here?"

I looked around and my eyes narrowed. "Things might be this way for now, but they won't stay this way for long." I vowed.

Dinner with Lissa and Christian was good. Lissa was back living in her old room at her parents' house and Sparky was staying in Moroi housing for now. "It's a pain though, we won't be able to see each other as much." Lissa said looking into Christians ice blue eyes.

"What a shame." I muttered sarcastically. "Why don't you both just move in together? Rhea and Eric will understand and Christian's already looking for somewhere to live." See? I did have some good ideas!

Christian grinned. "I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Rosie. Let's move in together." The rest of dinner Lissa and I talked about some of the real estate in Court while Dimitri and Christian had more 'manly' conversations on fighting.

Dimitri did a sweep of the house after we got home and met me back in the living room when he was finished. "The usual 5PM start for training in the morning." He said as I flicked through the channels on TV.

"Aw, Comrade does it really have to be that early? I don't have school anymore. No place to be until training with Tatiana starts."

"Yes, Rose. We can do a run and then come back here and train and you have the Guardian lunch tomorrow. So you do have somewhere to be." He said this in his don't argue with me voice.

"Do I really have to go to that?" I whined.

"If you want any say in who your other Guardian is, I'd advise you to go Rose."

I frowned "Fine. I'm going to bed. Goodnight Comrade." I said starting for the stairs.

"Goodnight Roza." The man knew how to put a smile on my face.

My alarm screamed in my ear. I did what any Mazur would do and threw it across the room into the wall. It took me a second longer than it should have to realise it didn't actually hit anything. I peeked out from under my warm blankets to realise I wasn't in my small dorm room at St Vlad's anymore. "Well that's just great. I'll have to change my aim in the mornings and pick a new wall." I climbed out of bed and had a quick shower before changing into my normal attire, tights and a singlet and put my Nike's on.

I met Dimitri in the living room as he was putting on his shoes. "Morning Rose."

"Hey Comrade. So where are we running?"

"I thought we'd head towards where the Guardians run patrons around the fence and do a loop of Court."

"You want me to run around all of Court? That has to be double what we normally do!" I yelled getting angry.

"It is, but we aren't at St Vladimir's anymore Rose. You know the deal, we're training my way now."

I scowled at him before carving. "Fine, but if I collapse from being in the sun too long. Your carrying me home."

"Wear a hat." He supplied off-handily. My eyes narrowed into slits but I ended up grabbing one anyway before we left.

"You're going to be ruthless with this aren't you?" I asked as we started down the long driveway towards the gates.

"Do you want to train Rose?"

"Yes"

"Well than you have your answer, unless you'd prefer me treat your life a Princess."

"No fair!" I whined.

Two hours later we were back home. I collapsed just inside the gates and refused to go any further. "Get up Rose" I muttered some curse words in reply. "Ok, if that's the way you want it to be, Princess Mazur."

I growled and got up. "That was a low blow Dimitri." He rolled his eyes and walked around the house to the gym with me following at a much slower pace. I let him move things around while I did my stretches and had a much needed drink of water.

"Ok, were doing a circuit. I want 6 sets of 15 reps. Before we move on. You get a minute break between sets but that minute will decrease daily and then we will add on more weight. Let's go." I cursed internally and started.

"This is like Guardian training isn't it?" I asked after I finished the circuit. I was already aching all over.

"Yes, it is." He said simply.

"Whatever, are we done here?"

"Not yet Rose."

"Dimitri, if we start sparring now you are going to kick my ass easily. I can barely lift my arms anymore."

"Too bad. Let's go." I almost had to crawl back towards the house. When we got back to the pool I stopped walking. Dimitri continued to the other end of the pool before he noticed my lack of movement. The way I see it, I have two options. One was to follow Dimitri inside, up all those stairs and into my bathroom for a shower. Or I could give him a little payback for putting me through hell this morning.

Choosing the latter, I locked eyes with Dimitri across the pool and lifted my singlet up and over my head. His eyes widened and his body froze in place. I was grateful I managed to grab one of my better sports bra's and matching underwear in my half asleep state this morning. The singlet fell to the ground behind me and I moved towards my tights and started lowering them. When I got to the edge of my red underwear Dimitri seemed to snap out of it and turned around until he was now looking at the back door. I grinned and took the tights the whole way off leaving me in my bra and underwear. I kicked my shoes off and dove into the water. I moaned underwater as my muscles relaxed slightly with the cool temperature. When I reached the other end I swam to the surface and pulled myself out. Dimitri was still frozen staring towards the door.

I smiled as I walked around him and into the house directly in his line of sight, making sure to swing my hips. It wasn't a G-string or anything but the red boy legs would give him something for his imagination to eat at. I managed to climb the stairs and got into the shower. My grin didn't stop the whole time. I blow dried my hair and chose a white short dress with short sleeves and nude heels that laced up around my ankle for the Guardian lunch. I left my hair out in its natural wave put on some pink lip gloss and made my way down stairs. Dimitri didn't say anything the whole drive to the hall the lunch was being held.

A guardian lunch happened once every year after the latest graduates met at Court. Moroi from all over came to choose their Guardians, we didn't get the final choice that was up to the Head Guardian but we still got a vote. The room was buzzing with conversation as Guardians and Moroi walked around the room talking. I noticed I was getting a lot of hopeful looks from some of the new Guardian's. A lot of them weren't from St Vlad's, probably from one of the other few schools over the world. Probably even a few from St Basils in Siberia where Dimitri trained. I made my way through the crowd looking for any familiar faces. While Dimitri took a place along one of the walls looking as badass as ever.

"Rose" I stopped dead in my tracks.

A scowl emerged on my face as I turned around. "Ivashkov" I said before turning back around and kept walking.

"Rose!" He was following me.

I turned back. "What do you want Adrian?" I asked straight out.

"Oh, don't be like that Rose. I just wanted to see my favourite little Princess."

"I'm not little anymore."

"Yes, I can see that." He said eyeing me up and down. My hand shook, it wanted to snap forward and punch him straight in the face. What can I say? Adrian had that effect on me.

Adrian Ivashkov and I had a bit of history. We dated a year ago for about 6 months, he was four years older and Tatiana's great nephew. It was the height of my rebellious stage, until I realised that he was just a drunken playboy. He always had an air of crazy around him and would always watch me with a knowing look on his face. When I asked why he would just chuckle and change the subject. I glanced down to the drink in his hands. "I can see you haven't changed."

He grinned "I thought you liked me just the way I am Rose."

My eyes turned to slits making his grin widen. "I do _not_ like you, Ivashkov. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go talk to people that I can actually stand to be in their presence." I turned on my heel and left.

I looked around and ended up walking straight into the back of a Guardian. He turned around and grinned when he seen me. He had light brown hair and blue eyes that reminded me of Christian's. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." I apologised.

"That's fine." His hand outstretched towards me. "I'm Guardian Aleksandr Rykov, just graduated from St Basil's and who might you be?" He looked me up and down, I was a little grossed out but not as bad as when Adrian did it.

I gave him a polite smile and shook his hand. "Rose Mazur."

He gasped and dropped into a bow. "Forgive me Princess. I did not recognise you."

I frowned. "It's fine, really, I ran into you. And please call me Rose." He seemed to relax slightly after that.

We talked for a little bit. Before I politely excused myself, after seeing the familiar blonde hair and green eyes of Adrian walking in my direction. I virtually ran away until I finally spotted a familiar face and made my way towards Eddie. "Hello Princess Mazur" He formally greeted me.

"Cut the shit Eddie" He laughed.

"It's Guardian Castile now."

"Sure it is. Any luck?"

"I'm not sure, I've talked to a few Moroi, a couple seemed interested in me." God it was like a dating site. You flipped through the photo's until you came across a profile you liked and selected it. "How about you Rose? I heard they wanted to give you another Guardian."

"Not really going at all, I've only spoken to one since I got here. But I kind of made a run for it, Adrian's here."

Eddie's jaw locked. "I never liked that guy." He muttered.

"Princess" Mason said when he approached Eddie and I.

"Aww, come on not you too. I'm still Rose!" He gave me a charming smile.

Yes, but we are Guardian's now and we have to address you as Princess Mazur in public." I scowled.

"Yes, Princess Rosie" A shitty voice said from behind me. I could smell the alcohol on Adrian's breath. Both of the guys put their Guardian masks on after spotting him.

"I'll see you guys later." I said to Mase and Eddie before darting away and towards the exit.

"Rose?" Dimitri asked as he met me at the door.

"Come on Dimitri, were leaving." He nodded and got the valet to grab our car.

"Where to?"

"Let's go grab a bite to eat. You can choose the place." Dimitri drove us to a small Italian restaurant and grabbed us a seat in the back. I ordered a pizza and garlic bread before relaxing into my seat.

"What happened with Lord Ivashkov?"

"You noticed that?"

"It's my job to keep my eye on you."

I nodded. "He's an ass.

Dimitri gave me a stern look. "You shouldn't say things like that."

"Well he is!" I insisted. "We dated a while back, before I got myself together. He was always nice to me and treated me well. But he makes me feel uncomfortable. He sounds like a crazy person half the time, acts like one too. I ended up breaking up with him. I forgot he'd be at Court." Dimitri looked at me for a long moment before nodding and dropping the subject.

 **Your first glimpse of Adrian. He doesn't play much of a role in this story. So don't get your hopes up Adrian fans.**

 **What do you guys think of Rose's swim? ;)**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Meeting the Queen**

We made our way back home and spotted a Guardian with a red collar standing on our porch steps. We both got out and he walked forward. "Princess Mazur. I am Guardian Yagovkin" He bowed. People have got to stop doing that to me today. "I am here with orders from Queen Ivashkov to invite you to Parliament for a meeting with her majesty."

I nodded. "When is Queen Ivashkov expecting me?"

"Right away, if you will?"

"Of course." I followed him towards the vehicle he had driven here in and Dimitri climbed in beside me.

We drove towards Parliament in silence and Yagovkin parked at the doors and led us both inside. "Please Princess Mazur. Take a seat, I will notify the Queen that you are here." I nodded and thanked him.

Dimitri was in full Guardian mode. I stood up and walked around the sitting room until I was beside him. "Loosen up Comrade." His lips twitched but other than that I got nothing out of him. I grabbed one of the red pillows on a lounge seat and held it up. "I really like red. It's my favourite colour, I like to wear it a lot. Do you like _red_ , Dimitri?" Come on, come on. His gaze flickered to me and his jaw tightened. _There it is_. I guess it was slightly inappropriate to mention my half naked swim this morning when we were waiting to go see the queen but oh well. "No?" I asked when he didn't say anything. "That's a shame. Maybe we'll try black next time." His eyes darkened, but his mask held in place.

"Princess Mazur, Queen Ivashkov will see you now." He opened the door for me. I winked at Dimitri before we followed Yagovkin through and into the room.

Tatiana sat on a white leather sofa inside. The room was large and I could see her desk behind the lounges covered in paperwork. "Queen Ivashkov" I bowed when she looked up.

She smiled. "Rose, Guardian Belikov. Please take a seat." We did as she asked. One other Guardian stood not far from Tatiana while Yagovkin stood beside the door. "How are you settling into Court?"

"It hasn't been too bad." I muttered thinking about the Guardian lunch earlier.

Her lips twitched. "I spoke to my nephew earlier. He mentioned he seen you." I scowled. Making her chuckle. "You haven't changed your mind about him, I see." I held my tongue and simply nodded. "He is quite fond of you. I'm sure one day he could make a good husband." I didn't miss Dimitri's small flinch and I doubt Tatiana did either.

"With all due respect your majesty when it comes to your _darling_ nephew, I'd rather become Strigoi."

She laughed loudly. When she settled down she looked between Dimitri and I similar to the way she did last time we seen her. "Are you interested in _anyone_ Rose?"

I pursed my lips trying to decide what the best response was. "Possibly" I said after a minute.

She smiled and her ankles crossed. "Well that's good to know. Now on to business. I believe you are 18 in two days' time is that correct?"

"Yes your majesty."

"Lovely, I am holding a ball that night. Everyone at Court is invited. I hope to announce that you will be my successor."

My brows rose. "Do you not think it is too soon?"

"No, I do not. I want you to start training the following day. It would be useful to not have to keep it a secret any longer."

I sighed and sat back in my seat, I looked to Dimitri and he gave me an encouraging smile. "Alright, let's do it." I turned back to Tatiana.

"Perfect. One more thing than before you leave." I watched her pause and give us both similar looks her face deadly serious all of a sudden. "Do not let our society, dictate your most important decisions. Many years ago, I did just that and lost the love of my life. Do not make the same mistakes I did, either of you." My mouth hung open. Was she serious? I knew she was talking about Dimitri and I. We had agreed without as many words that we couldn't have any relationship outside of friendship and a little flirting on my part. And yet the Queen was telling us that she wanted us together.

"That will be all." She said standing up and walking around to her desk.

I left without a word and Guardian Yagovkin drove us back home when we were safely inside I turned to Dimitri. "Did she just...?"

"I believe she did." He conformed.

"There's so many reasons why we shouldn't." My voice was soft. I didn't want him to take it the wrong way.

But he understood. "I know"

"Then why did she say that?"

"I'm not sure, Rose."

I nodded. "Hey Comrade, I think I'm going to head to bed early."

"Are you sure Rose?" I could hear the worry in his voice.

"Yeah. Goodnight Comrade." I kissed his cheek before walking up stairs.

"Goodnight Roza."

"Ok, Comrade. Where to?" I asked walking down the stairs the next morning.

"Same as yesterday Rose." I nodded and walked outside.

"What no fighting or whinging today?" He called from behind me.

"Hey, if that's what you really want!" I called back.

"I'll be right Rose, but thanks for offering."

I snickered. "Did Dimitri Belikov just make a joke?" He rolled his eyes before taking off at a run.

We ran down the street and along another until we made it to the fence. The fence surrounding Court was easily 15 feet high. Not far past the fence held the wards that kept Strigoi from entering. We made our way along the fence in silence. Every now and then we would come across a Guardian that Dimitri knew and they'd offer us a small greeting.

I was exhausted when we got back to the house. My skin had an unusually white glow to it. I didn't even have it in me to protest when Dimitri started making me do my weight circuit. After I was done, I was almost dead on my feet. "Are you ok Rose?" Dimitri asked as I sat down on the sparring mat and put my head in between my knees. I shook my head slightly and groaned as my vision swam. "Here have some water" He trust a bottle towards my lips and I gulped it down. "Better?" I shook my head again.

"Rose, when was the last time you ate?"

"Umm, lunch yesterday."

"And the last time you had blood?"

"The day before that." I groaned.

"Your body's shutting down Rose, with all the training yesterday it must have drained you all of your energy." I laid down on to the mat, willing the room to stop spinning.

"I'm taking you to the feeders." I felt Dimitri's arms go around my back and under my knees and he lifted me.

"Noooo" I moaned in protest.

"Rose, we've got to go!" His voice was pleading.

"I will throw up if you don't put my down. I feel like your spinning in circles." He lowered me back onto the floor.

"Rose..." He said after a minute. My eyes had been squeezed shut but I opened one at the sound of his voice. "Drink from me."

"What!" I yelled or at least tried to. "No!"

"Yes, Rose. You need blood right now. This isn't going to go away." I was horrified at the thought. The only times Moroi used Dhampir for blood instead of humans was when they were using them as blood-whores. The feed mostly happened during sex. Moroi drinking from any Dhampir was seen that way.

"I can't do that to you Dimitri."

"Yes you can, and you will." He pulled me up slowly until I was perched against him chest on his lap.

I could hear his pulse beat through his shirt making my moan. "That's it Roza." My face rose higher as I inhaled his scent. "It's ok Rose." He whispered into my ear and bared his neck to me. I hesitated for a second but ultimately my hunger and lack of control from exhaustion won out and I sunk my fangs into Dimitri's neck. We both moaned at my first pull of blood. I lifted one of my arms up to the other side of his neck keeping him still as I drank. When I pulled back Dimitri let out a small whimper. I licked the blood from my fangs and looked over Dimitri.

The wound on his neck stopped bleeding quickly. His Dhampir genes kicking in full swing. I looked up into his face and held it still between my hands. He rocked back and forth slightly but his face was one of pure bliss. "You're amazing" he said in a daze. I wanted to smile, but I felt too awful having put him in this state.

"I'm so sorry Dimitri." A tear fell from my eye, and then another.

He shook himself for a moment until the Dimitri I knew was back. "Don't be upset Roza."

"How can you say that?! I just drank from you!"

"Look at me Roza, now!" His voice was commanding. I lifted my head from his chest and complied. "I'm ok, sweetheart and so are you now." His voice was so soft and his eyes shone with an emotion I couldn't place. "If you need blood, I'd happily give it to you. If you wanted the world, I'd try and find a way, Roza." His Russian accent became more pronounced making him even sexier than he had ever been in my eyes.

"I don't want the world Dimitri." I told him truthfully. My eyes bore into his. "I just want you" I whispered.

I felt Dimitri's hands cup my cheeks and he lowered his face down until his lips were on mine. I didn't hesitate as I reached up wound my hands around to the nape of his neck and kissed him back. Kissing Dimitri was better than I ever imagined it could be. One of his hands travelled into my hair and he pulled out the band making it fall through his fingers. His tongue traced my lips, begging. I opened my mouth and moaned, he tasted exquisite. My legs wrapped around his waist and pulling me closer into him. His answering growl was sexy as hell. I felt Dimitri freeze, like he just realised what he was doing and regretted it. I pulled away to looking to wide eyes. I didn't even think, I just ran.

 **Don't hate me.**

 **What do you guys think about Dimitri letting Rose feed from her? I wasn't too sure when I first started writing it. But them again he would do anything for her, this is just one of the lengths he would go to protect his Roza.**

 **Any predictions for the next chapter?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 - Avoiding Dimitri**

I made it to my room and locked the door behind me. Had I gotten it all wrong? Did he really want anything to do with me other than our friendship? Was he still high from my bite and only came to his senses at the end? So many questions spun around my head as I showered. I fought the tears, but in the end the sight of his horrid face made them fall over and run down my face. I stayed under the warm water until there was none left. I pulled myself out of the bathroom and laid down on my bed in my towel. Shit, this was going to make things awkward between us now. I couldn't hide in my room all day.

I rolled over to my bedside table and grabbed my phone and dialled. "Hey Rose!"

"Hi, Liss. I need some shopping therapy and a dress to the ball tomorrow."

She squealed. "I was going to call you about shopping for a dress today anyway. I'll be ready in half hour."

"Perfect Liss, thank you." I hung up and dragged my sorry ass to the wardrobe.

I grabbed some black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, my leather biker jacket and black pumps. Queen Tatiana would probably have me killed if she seen me walking around Court in this. Oh well. I made one more phone call and fixed my hair and makeup. I tried to make my escape as quiet as possible but of course as soon as I reached the front door I head Dimitri behind me.

"Rose, where are you going?" I froze. Shit.

I pulled the door open wider to see a car enter the driveway and pull up out the front. Mason and Eddie climbed out but waited at the bottom of the front steps. "I'm going out with Liss. The guys are going to stay with us. You should get out of the house go do something fun, I'm giving you a day off." I didn't even look at him as I spoke. As soon as the last words were out of my mouth I was outside.

I heard Dimitri yell "Wait!" from inside but I was already in the car. Mason and Eddie greeted Dimitri before climbing into the front two seats and drove us away.

I felt like a coward for running. But I just needed some air and space after this morning. Eddie reached over the seat and handed me a bag. "Here you go, Rose." Inside were 3 chocolate glazed donuts. "I love you guys." I smiled and dug in.

We picked up Lissa from the Dragomir's and made our way to the boutiques. She gave Mason and Eddie a wave and turned to me. "Where's Dimitri?"

"Oh, he had some personal business on today. So were stuck with these two."

"Hey!"

"Oi"

Lissa laughed and dropped it. I was relieved. I didn't want to explain the blood, kiss and Tatiana's strange parting words yesterday to her in a car of 4 people.

"So Tatiana wants to make the announcement tomorrow." I told her. Still not all that sure I agreed with it being so soon.

"Really? Wow!" Lissa said in awe. I nodded. "Well we will just have to find you an extra special dress." She told me and then instructed Mason on which shop she wanted us to go to. The boutique was large and had large ball gowns on every surface. I tried not to cringe.

"Princess Mazur, Lady Dragomir. What a pleasure it is to have you both here." I gave the woman a tight smile and let Lissa take charge. I enjoyed shopping, but Lissa had the whole thing down pat. She knew what she wanted and never left until she got it.

"Ok, not a problem Lissa, why don't you both come with me." Looks like Lissa must had got her claws out about the titles. We both had similar views on that issue. She didn't like to be called 'lady' as I didn't enjoy 'princess' and she didn't like her full name and neither did I. I followed them and the woman gave us both a room in the back. Lissa walked in and took a seat and a cookie from the table.

"Aren't we meant to be shopping? Not eating cookies?"

Lissa laughed making me more confused. "Patricia is doing the shopping. She will grab a few gowns for the both of us and bring them in here for us to try on."

"Oh" I said feeling stupid and took the seat beside hers and grabbed a handful of cookies myself.

Patricia came back with a bunch of gowns and stashed them onto a rack. Lissa gave them all a good look before telling me which one she wanted me to try on. I didn't argue with her and did as she said. My first gown was an off the shoulder gown in silver. It clung to my chest and waist before spilling out in tulle around my feet. "No way Liss, I feel like one of those princess cake toppers. Kids have at parties." She frowned at me but didn't comment. Her dress was a lemon yellow with small straps and the rest was similar to the one I was wearing. I shook my head and she agreed. After a couple of hours and way too much tulle I had had enough. "I can't take this anymore Lissa! I feel like a puffer fish in this one!" The base of the dress puffed out until Lissa and Patricia were a few feet away from me.

She chuckled "Ok, you pick something then." I strode out of the change room and met a bored Eddie who gave my dress and amused look and snickered. "Don't you open that mouth of yours Castile, unless you don't want to keep your tongue." He shut up. I went through dress after dress until I found the one.

"Got it!" I called. Dragging it into the room, Lissa was still admiring the dress she picked. Hers was a pale pink off the shoulder dress with a straight across neckline. It fit against her small waist and then flared out without the use of tulle. It was shorter at the front so you could see whatever shoes she decided on. I got out of the puffer gown with Patricia's help and into my own. It was a red wine colour in a velvet material with boning on the inside to fit against my figure. It had a sweetheart neckline and fitted my body down to my knees where it flared out like a mermaid dress and had a train at the back that went for a couple of feet.

"Your right that is the one." Lissa's eyes dragged over it. "It's not very Princessie" She added on afterthought.

"Yeah, well neither am I."

Lissa grinned. "Ok, let's get out of here." Patricia brought our gowns out and we paid for them while an assistant boxed them both and put them into the boot of the car.

"I vote on food before we go anywhere else." I said before Lissa could give Mason anymore instructions. She pouted but my tummy was too hungry to cave. After lunch we visited some jewellery stores. I found a neckless that I loved even though it was seriously expensive. "How often am I going to turn 18?" I asked Lissa when she tried to sway me. In the end I bought the neckless. I didn't really care about shoes. Mine were going to be hidden under my dress anyway but Lissa insisted on getting a new pair for my wardrobe.

We made one last stop at a spa & hairdressing salon and made appointments for tomorrow. I was getting excited about the whole thing as we dropped Lissa home. "I'll see you at lunch tomorrow!" She called to me before running up the stairs to her house, Mason carrying her bags and boxes behind her.

"Straight home Rose?" Mason asked when he returned climbing into the car.

"Actually I have one more stop to make. Can you take me to Guardian Headquarters?"

"Sure."

He pulled up out the front and Eddie opened the door for me. "Aww thanks Castile." But he was in full Guardian mode around here and simply nodded. "Tough crowd" I muttered walking in. There were a few Guardians in the room bustling around when they noticed me they froze and their Guardian masks went into place. "Hi" I said embarrassed and waved around the room. "I wanted to see Guardian Hans, if anyone could help me."

A female Guardian with short dark hair stepped forward. "I'd be happy to help Princess." She bowed.

"Thank you and please call me Rose."

She smiled. "Guardian Han's office is this way." I followed her down the hall. "My names Anna by the way" She said as she led my down another corridor.

"It's nice to meet you Anna." She was a nice woman maybe a year or two older than I was and had a pretty face. She knocked on a door, we both heard a "Come in" and entered.

"Guardian Yerkhov, P..Princess Mazur. What can I do for you?"

Anna tried to slip away. "Thank you Anna!"

She grinned around the door. "No problem Rose" and closed it leaving Han's and I.

"Guardian Han's, I unfortunately didn't get to submit my Guardian requests at the end of the lunch yesterday due to unfortunate circumstances. I was wondering if you would let me do them now?"

"Of course Princess, I was just about to start going through the lists."

"Perfect" He grabbed a pen and a paper and gave me an expectant look. "My two preferences are Guardian Edison Castile and Guardian Mason Ashford."

"Are you sure you don't want someone with more experience? Both of them have only just graduated."

"I'm sure. I grew up with them both at the academy and I already trust them with my life. I'd be honoured to have either of them by myside with Guardian Belikov." He nodded and wrote them down.

"Very well Princess. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, thank you for your time Guardian Han's. I should be getting back home now."

He stood up from his chair and bowed. "Very well Princess Mazur, have a good day."

"Thank you" He nodded again and I walked out.

I made my way back down the halls to reception where Eddie was patiently waiting and Mason was giving loving eyes toward Anna. Well that's interesting. "Come on boys. Cya later Anna, and thanks again!"

She grinned. "No problem Rose."

The guys drove me back to the house and followed me in to make sure it was clear, but it was unnecessary as Dimitri was sitting on the sofa on the phone. "Alright, guys. Thanks for today." I hugged them both and said my goodbyes after Mason brought my bags in.

"How about we all have breakfast in the morning for your birthday Rose? Were both on duty at the ball." Eddie asked.

"Sounds good, training with Dimitri should finish up around 8 PM so how about we meet at 9, we can go to that café on the corner of Milsons Drive?" They both agreed and I told them I'd message the girls. I walked back inside and made my way to the kitchen to start on dinner.

I messaged Lissa, Christian and Mia while I busied myself and told them about our plans. I would have invited Natalie but she had been acting a little strange before graduation and she was away with her father for a few days. I heard Dimitri head in my direction. "Alright Mama, I've got to go... Yes, I promise I'll visit soon... Ok Mama. Bye. I love you." Aww. I was still worried about what happened this morning between us, but this man could make me melt.

"Rose?" He called walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Comrade" I tried to keep anything out of my voice that would give away how I was feeling, I think I did a good job. I kept cutting up the vegetables not even looking in his direction. I knew my eyes would give away what I was really thinking. "How was your day?" I asked.

"It was ok, I went for a swim and did some reading."

Damn it. I missed a shirtless Dimitri in my pool. F**k. "That's nice. Was that you mom on the phone?"

"Yeah, I haven't had much time lately to speak with anyone back home."

I felt a little bad at that and stopped chopping. "I'm sorry."

"No it's fine, really Rose, they understand. My younger sister is home from school for a few weeks and Mama was trying to guilt me into making a trip." I turned around and met his eyes.

I could see the love he had for his family. "You should go, Dimitri."

"No, I can't leave you while there's a threat around."

"I'll be alright, I'll have another Guardian in a day or two anyway. I'll be ok."

He looked down for a moment and hid his face. "That's what I thought about Ivan, before..."

My heart sunk. "I'm sorry Comrade. How about we make a trip to Russia?"

"No, Rose. I can't ask that ok you. With all the queen things beginning soon it would be best to stay here."

I pursed my lips and got my phone out and dialled. "Hello Royal Parliament, Rachel speaking."

"Hi, Rachel. I'm Princess Rose Mazur, I wanted to speak with Queen Ivashkov if she is available."

"Certainly Princess Mazur. One moment please."

Dimitri's eye narrowed. "You don't have to do this Rose."

"Dimitri, shut up and let me doing something nice for you, please?" I gave him my best pout.

"Rose?" A familiar voice came on the line.

"Your majesty. I have a request."

She paused. "What is it Rose?"

"Well, after just finishing all my exams and moving. Now I'm going to start training with you as well as my training with Dimitri, it's getting to be a bit too much."

"What are you trying to say Rose?" Her voice got harder.

"Don't worry I'm not backing out, I would just like to possibly do a trip away from Court for a few days and then when I come back I'll be fresh and ready to start." Tatiana thought about it for a while.

"I think I can agree to putting it off for another week. But not a day more, ok?"

"Perfect, thank you your majesty."

Her voice turned into a polite friendly tone. "Where are you thinking of going?"

"Uhh... Well I was thinking of heading to Russia. Dimitri hasn't seen his family in a while."

I could hear the smile in her voice as she said. "Well, that would be lovely for you both. Here I'll give you my private number if you need to reach me while your away." I added it into my phone.

"Ok, thanks Queen Ivashkov."

"No worries Rose, and call me Tatiana when we're talking like this. None of this Queen business." I chuckled.

"Sure Tatiana."

"I'll see you at the ball tomorrow, oh and before I forget. You have to wear your crown." I wanted to argue, but she was the queen after all.

"Alright, I guess I can do that."

She laughed. "Bye Rose."

"Bye!"

I called the Court travel company next. "Hello, this is Rose Mazur. I would like to organise my jet for a flight to..." I looked up to Dimitri.

He smiled. "Baia, Russia." I repeated it into the phone.

"Yes, Princess. When will you be departing?"

"The day after tomorrow. And we will return in 7 days."

"Ok, Princess. It's booked for a 8PM departure."

"Awesome thank you!"

"Well Comrade, looks like we have some packing to do."

"You didn't have to do that Rose."

"Dimitri, I would do anything to see my parents again. I don't have a family, you do and if I can help you see them, than I will. Now why don't you give your mother a call back and let her know to expect us. I'll have a look at some accommodation."

"Rose, my mother would never let you stay in a hotel, she'd prefer to have me and any guests stay at our home."

"Alright, fine. As long as she agrees that it's ok."

He nodded "Thank you Roza" giving me a grateful smile and pulled his phone back out. I ate my dinner in my room. There was still a strange tension in the air between us both, that I was trying to avoid it as much as possible.

 **Who's getting excited for Rose's birthday and their little holiday to Baia?**

 **What do you guys think's going to happen? I love reading your theories.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - Officially An Adult**

I woke the next morning in a substantially better mood than I usually was. I pulled on some tight running shorts and a racer back singlet and danced down the stairs. "Good morning Comrade."

Dimitri grinned up at me. When I got to the bottom step Dimitri walked forward and hugged me. I stiffed for a moment before relaxing and hugging him back. "Happy Birthday Roza" he whispered into my ear.

"Thanks Comrade." He stepped back and grabbed something off the small table beside me. It was a long rectangle shape and covered in wrapping paper. "Dimitri, you didn't have to get me anything."

"Just open the present Rose." I chuckled and did as he demanded.

I ripped the wrapping paper off to reveal a plain white box. I flipped it open and gasped. Inside was a silver stake. But not just any silver stake this one had a carving into it. I pulled it out of the box and looked at it closely. They were vines. Going up and twisting around. Rose vines. Above the hilt said "Roza" and there was a familiar symbol next to it. The Mazur family crest. Without a second thought I wrapped myself around Dimitri, legs and all. And held him close. The God didn't even stumble he just held me close. "Do you like it?" He asked.

"Dimitri, it's perfect! I love it! Thank you."

"You're welcome Roza." His head moved to the side and he kissed my forehead.

Training with Dimitri went by without a hitch no fainting spells and no blood was spilled or consumed with only a little whining on my part. I was in too much of a good mood. We walked back into the house together after some sparring. "Were meeting everyone for breakfast in an hour. After that Lissa and I are going to the spa and back here to get ready for tonight. You should go do your own thing while were at the spa for a few hours."

"It's fine Rose, I don't mind."

"Yeah well I do. Plus I've got a crafty plan up my sleeve and I need a different Guardian with me for a few hours at the spa." He looked at me strangely. "She's a female Guardian I met yesterday. Calm down, I'm not getting rid of you."

He relaxed. "Ok, I might go check in at Headquarters than and give them information on our trip to Baia." I frowned. At least that was better than him waiting inside a spa for a few hours.

After I showered and changed. I made a quick phone call to Headquarters. "Hi, this is Rose Mazur. My Guardian has something to look after for a few hours today and I was wondering if you could give me a replacement."

"Yes, Princess. That can be arranged. What time?"

"11PM would be great. I'll be at Lola's Spa. Oh and can I request Guardian Yerkhov." The man paused for a moment. "Yes, Guardian Yerkhov doesn't have any duties until tonight. I'll make the arrangements Princess." After that I called the spa and told them to expect one more for the treatments.

Dimitri drove us to the cafe and we met the others. There were a chorus of 'Happy Birthday Rose' as I walked in. We all had a good chat and ate and after Lissa started throwing presents my way. Mia bought me a pair of Louis Viton's, Mason and Eddie both pitched into to buy me a new iPod and earphones for my morning run, Christian gave me some exercise clothes - curtesy of Lissa and she bought my a pair of earrings that matched my necklace for the ball tonight and a voucher to one of the boutiques in Court. After breakfast I said goodbye to everyone and Dimitri drove Lissa and I to the spa.

Anna was waiting outside when we arrive. "Anna!" She smiled.

"Hey Rose, Lady Dragomir."

"Call her Lissa. Liss this is Anna Yerkhov a Guardian here at Court." I introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you Anna. Shall we?" Lissa asked pointing to the door.

"Cya Comrade!" I waved to Dimitri before following the girls in.

"If that is your Guardian Rose, why do you need me?" Anna said eyeing Dimitri up and down.

I smiled. "Dimitri's got some things to do today." I shrugged and walked to the counter. "Hi, we have appointments for Rose Mazur, Lissa Dragomir and Anna Yerkhov." Anna gave me a questioning look. "We're having some girl time." I smiled.

"Rose, I can't afford getting _anything_ done at a place like this."

"Don't worry about it, it's already paid for. Now come on!" I pushed her down the hall and into a room to change into one of the robes they provide.

When we were all changed we were led to a massage room each and got an amazing massage for an hour. After that we all took seats and some of the beautician's started on pedicure's and manicures for each of us. "Rose, I'm in heaven." Anna moaned.

I laughed. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. You should hang out with us more often. You'd like some of our friends, actually you might have already met Eddie Castile and Mason Ashford their Guardian's here."

"Is Mason the guy with red hair?"

"That's the one." I grinned as she smiled at nothing.

"We spoke one or twice. He seems really nice."

"Oh he is, we've known him all our lives."

Lissa caught on to what I was doing. "Yeah, he's a nice guy Mason, funny too. He and Rose always have us in stitches."

After the mani's and pedi's we were moved to the hair washing basin's and then to seats while hairdressers started blow drying our hair. "I really don't need to do my hair, I'm going to be on duty tonight."

I shrugged. "Hey, it couldn't hurt. Maybe you'll catch some hot guys attention."

"Next to you two all dressed up in gowns, I highly doubt it."

"You never know" I muttered. I told the hairdresser that I needed an up do and to make room for my crown.

By the time we were finished and Anna drove us back to house our makeup was done by professionals, my hair was up in lose soft curls above my head. Lissa's was straightened and pinned to one side and Anna's was styled in short waves. Lissa and I both hit it off well with Anna. She even agreed to join us for shopping after I got back from our trip.

We got dressed in my room while Anna waited downstairs for Dimitri to arrive. Lissa fastened my neckless in place around my neck after my dress was on. It sat at the base of my neck with a row of diamonds going around it and another row dropped lower from that with a couple of red rubies attached lower than that. The earrings Lissa bought me were two clear diamonds with a ruby at the bottom. I helped Lissa get into her gown and fix the finishing touches on her.

I grabbed a red bag to match my dress and put my red lipstick, phone, keys and new stake inside. I went to walk out "Aren't you forgetting something Rose?" I turned around to see Lissa point to the tiara sitting on its pillow on my dresser.

"Ehh fine, give it here." I walked back to the mirror and placed it on my head until it sat perfectly.

"People are going to see your marks tonight." Lissa said from behind me.

"Yeah, I know." I muttered. "Alright, let's do this." I linked arms with hers and we walked downstairs. Dimitri and Christian stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for us.

"Aw come on Liss did you have to invite Sparky?" I said loud enough for him to hear. Christian looked up at the sound of my voice and his retort cut in his throat as he got a look at Lissa. I chuckled as she blushed. We made it safely to the bottom of the stairs and Lissa walked over to kiss Christian. Dimitri stood by the door in a black tux and white shirt underneath but a black tie. My mouth watered and I walked towards him. His eyes trailed over my body and darkened. "Who knew you'd look that handsome in a suit?"

He smiled and stepped forward and leaned down to my ear. "You look absolutely beautiful, Roza." His Russian accent thickened.

"Thanks Comrade" I gave him my best man-eating smile as he opened the door for us all.

The ball room was decorated to perfection. Hundreds of Moroi were dressed perfectly. I gave Dimitri a smile that he returned before he took a spot against the wall. Looking not only godlike but sexy as f**k in his suit. I was assigned a seat next to Tatiana's. She was talking to Prince Ozera when I took my seat. "Rose! You look lovely and Happy Birthday." I smiled.

"Thank you, you're not too bad yourself." She chuckled. Tatiana's gown was massive and absolutely stunning. She had diamonds sewed into the dress and it was off the shoulder with long sleeves and a royal blue colour. She introduced me to everyone at the table. Some I knew, and other's I only heard of. I spoke with Princess Voda who was also Tatiana's royal advisor and best friend. She was a nice woman and we got along well.

After an hour it was time for Tatiana's speech. Prince Szlesky introduced her and the entire room stood to welcome her. She gave my shoulder a small squeeze before getting up and walking across the stage to the microphone. I could feel my nerves radiating through my body. She spoke for a while and I tried to follow along as best as I could but it was hard with all the shaking I was doing and the blood pumping strongly in my ears. My eyes met with Dimitri's across the room and he winked at me. I took a deep breath and calmed down and listened in on the speech.

"As you know, this year marks my 50th year of leading the Moroi and Dhampir kingdom. I have enjoyed every moment of it and have met some amazing people throughout those years. But it has come to the time I must consider retiring and have someone younger take my place." Ok, Rose here we go. "I have spent the last few years deciding who I feel would lead our world to new heights. I have finally made my decision and I would like to announce my successor to the throne... Princess Rosemarie Mazur." She gestured to me and I stood from my seat and gave her a polite bow and then smiled to the crowd before sitting back down. There were a few scowls among the crowd but I ignored them and focused back on Tatiana.

"The princess, has agreed to train by my side to be the best Queen she can be. I know that she will do great and make her parents the late Lady Janine Mazur and Prince Ibrahim Mazur, very proud." I smiled and mouthed my thanks to her. "Now please, ladies and gentlemen have a lovely evening." And with that the crowd rose to their feet again clapping. The chatter picked up instantly and a lot of people got out of their seats to walk around. I joined them and make my way through the crowd.

I spotted Mason's red hair and walked over to him. "Hey Mase."

"Princess Mazur." He bowed making me roll me eyes. "Soon-to-be Queen." He added quietly under his breath.

"Scary huh?" He nodded laughing silently. "I had a nice day at the spa today with Anna Yerkhov. She seems like a nice person."

His eyes lit up and he gave me a lazy smile. "What did you do Rose?"

I feigned innocence. "Who me? Nothing… Ok, I might have just mention how wonderful and charming my best friend Mason was." He grinned. "You should go find her" I suggested.

"I can't Rose, I'm on duty."

"So is she. Maybe mention something about work first." I winked and pointed to her not far away. He followed my finger and froze. Anna was wearing a black fitted suit white shirt and black tie like the other Guardians but she looked great with her Dhampir curves. "Go on" I pushed him in that direction and waited until he started talking to her before walking away.

I did my best to ignore Adrian's eye as I made my way away from the direction I could see him. A few Moroi approached me to talk, there were some congratulations as well. We ended up in a rather large circle discussing the Queen's retirement. Someone gasped from behind me. I turned to see a Moroi lady looking at me with wide eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Oh.. I just.. Your tattoo's." She pointed to my neck.

"My Molnija's?" she nodded. The circle stopped chatting abruptly and looked at my neck.

"You've killed Strigoi?" One man asked.

"Yes, a group of Strigoi attacked Lady Vasilisa Dragomir and myself a couple of months back. Two of our three Guardians went down before I joined in the fight, then Guardian Belikov and I took down the remaining 5 Strigoi." This was all part of my plan. Get the word out there that I fought with my Guardian and we killed Strigoi _together_. They all had shocked looks on their faces.

"I didn't know you could fight?" the same man asked.

"My father and his Guardian… Pavel, taught me from a young age in case I ever needed it. It was lucky they did otherwise I don't think Vasilisa, Guardian Belikov or myself would have made it out of there alive." I was stretching the truth slightly. Lissa would have made it away but I was pretty sure Dimitri and I would have died because there was no way I was leaving him regardless if I could do magic or not.

The all nodded in agreement and a couple had far away looks on their faces. "That's very brave of you" said one woman.

I smiled at her "Perhaps, but I was being just as brave as the Guardians who died. It's not easy taking on Strigoi let me tell you and yet Guardian's do it every day. Now that, is bravery." I excused myself after that and left them to their thoughts. I had a similar conversation with another couple of people before spending sometime of the dance floor with Lissa.

After I while I decided to head off, Tatiana found me making my way towards Dimitri. "Rose"

"Your majesty."

"I just wanted to wish you luck well with your trip and also let you know you've done well tonight."

"Thank you Tatiana."

"Your welcome, one last thing, Guardian Han's has your new Guardian organised for you and he will meet you at the jet tomorrow."

"Do you know who it is?"

"No, I didn't ask." I nodded.

"Well, I better go get some sleep. Have a good evening your majesty."

"You too Rose."

Dimitri drove us home, we decided to skip a feed and instead go tomorrow morning for blood to last me the plane ride and the first night in Russia. I collapsed onto the lounge after we walked inside and started taking my heels and tiara off. "Did you have a good birthday?" Dimitri asked taking the seat beside me.

"Yeah, it was pretty good. I just wish they were here for all of this."

He turned in his seat so he was facing me. "They are here Rose. They will always be with you, in here." He pointed to my heart. I gave him a small smile and nodded.

His eyes held mine, and just like that everything else dissapeared. All that was let was Dimitri and I. "You're so beautiful Roza." He whispered. He leaned forward and thoughts of yesterday morning came back and I hesitated.

"Dimitri I can't keep doing this. You and I going back and forward, it's too much."

His large hand reached up and traced the side of my cheek. "What do you want Roza?"

I held his face in the palms of my hand. "I've already told you, I want you Dimitri."

His smile was blinding. "Then I am all yours." With that he kissed me. I let the moan in my chest escape when his tongue met mine in their slow dance. He tasted better than I remembered.

 **Yay Yay Yay!**

 **Well it's about bloody time.**

 **\- Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	16. Chapter 16

**I appreciate all the reviews! So much so that this is my third posted chapter in as many days. You guys are amazinggggg!**

 **Chapter 16 - Baia**

"Then I am all yours." With that he kissed me. I let the moan in my chest escape when his tongue met mine in their slow dance. He tasted better than I remembered.

I climbed onto his lap and he held me in place. I knotted my hands into Dimitri's hair. He pulled back for a moment and his lips kissed me skin down the side of my neck. "Я тебя люблю Роза" (I love you Roza)

"Я тоже тебя люблю Дмитрий" (I love you too Dimitri). Dimitri groaned and his lips crashed to mine again. His arms went around my waist and I was lifted up. I could tell he was taking us somewhere but in that moment I didn't really care, because his lips never left mine. I was laid down to realise I was in my own bed. Dimitri's body hovered over me and I pulled him until his body and against mine. I moaned as I felt all of him. My hands grabbed at his jacket and pulled it off with a little help from Dimitri.

"Are you sure about his Roza? We can wait."

I pulled back slightly so he could see my face properly. "I'm sure Dimitri. I love you."

His smile was stunning. "I love you too Roza." I had never had sex before but being with Dimitri was like nothing I could ever have imagined. Every touch, every kiss was full of an intense love for one another. After holding everything between us back for the last couple of months this moment we held absolutely nothing back.

"I could get use to this." I told him as we lay back in each other's arms. Our naked limbs tangled together.

His lips touched the top of my forehead. "You will Roza." I couldn't help the huge grin that was plastered on my face.

One long mouth-watering kiss later. "Goodnight Comrade"

"Goodnight my Roza."

I slept better that night than I ever had before. Dimitri managed to turn my alarm off before it was thrown across the room which made my morning that much better. We kissed for a couple of minutes enjoying our little bubble before Dimitri dragged me out of bed. I let him change in his room and I did the same in mine. I pulled on a pair of grey tights that went all the way down to my ankles and a black sports bra and left it at that. "Are you trying to kill me Roza?" Dimitri asked when I met him downstairs.

"Kill? No. Tease? Yes." He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Training was a lot more fun than usual with a few stolen kisses here and there. I did my best to ignore the new aches and pains in my body. Dimitri stood in a fighting stance across from me. He was always intimidating when he did this but I knew he wouldn't really hurt me. I took the first move and sent a kick towards his knees Dimitri jumped out of the way and dodged my punch toward his chest also. "Good Roza, that was quick. Remember to use my weaknesses against me." I nodded. Dimitri had drilled into me how my short height could be used in my advantage against large men like Dimitri.

I dodged a few of his hits and dropped to the floor my right leg swung out kicking his feet out from under him. I jumped on him, and used my leg muscles to hold the lower half of his body down. I knew his strength could easily let him take control. So I used his advice and used my speed, he dodged a couple of hits but in the end I managed to 'stake' him. I laid down on his chest struggling for air. "That was great Roza."

"Thanks Comrade." I kissed his chest and worked my way up to his neck making him groan. The blood pulsing through his neck tempted me but I didn't give in. Dimitri rolled us over and claimed my lips. He ground his hips into mine, an embarrassing whimper escaped my mouth. After another minute Dimitri pulled back and we started sparring again. It wasn't our last make-out session or the last time we touched one another before the training session was over.

We packed a suitcase each after we were showered and changed. I wore a ripped pair of blue jeans a silk creamy pink top and my leather jacket and matching ankle boots. Dimitri insisted it wouldn't be cold this time of year so I didn't pack too heavy. We locked up the house and loaded the bags into the car, with a quick stop at the feeders we headed to the airport. I was excited to be heading back to Russia. My father used to do a lot of business there and I joined him on a few trips when I was away from school for holidays.

A couple of Guardians met us at the air strip and loaded our luggage on-board. I walked up the stairs to see a familiar face. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "I am your new Guardian." Eddie said with a grin on his face.

"No effing way. Han's actually gave me you?"

He nodded "I had to make some serious promises to work hard but in the end he agreed I would be good enough to guard you."

"Well I'm glad." I told him pulling him into a hug.

"Me too Rose. So we're going to Russia?"

"Yeah, we're staying with Dimitri's family for the week before I have to start my training to be queen."

"Wow, I can't believe you're going to be queen."

"Me either." He laughed. Dimitri entered the plane and closed the door behind him and gave the captain instructions to take off.

"Dimitri, you remember Eddie? He's the newest member of our little team." I told him when he walked back into the room.

"Yes, Guardian Castile. Good to see you again."

Eddie stood up to shake his hand. "You too Guardian Belikov."

"Dimitri, please."

He nodded. "Then please call me Eddie."

I smiled. Aww they were so cute. My knights in shining armour. I took a comfy seat beside the window and did my seat belt up as the plane took off. "Did Mason find out who his charge is?" I asked Eddie when we were in the air.

"They assigned him to Court. They want to train him up to be one of the Leaders."

"Wow"

He nodded. "He's excited, he will be going on a lot of missions for the Queen and Han's."

The 'Leaders' was a team of skilled Guardian's that were on the frontlines against Strigoi. They didn't go out looking for a fight but they did a lot of recon and rescue missions when it was a high ranking royal who was taken. I wished a rescue mission would take place no matter what the race or amount of royal blood in them but there was nothing I could do about that just yet. These Guardians were extremely good at their job and based here in Court. I had no doubt Mason was thrilled to join them.

"Lucky him." I smiled thinking about last night with Anna. I hoped it went well between them.

I slept for a few hours and woke up to find myself wrapped in Dimitri's arms who was asleep himself. I couldn't help the smile on my face that turned into a blush as I caught site of Eddie giving me an amused look. "Shut it Castile."

He held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything Rose."

"Yeah, yeah. How much longer do we have?"

"About 20 minutes until we start to descend. You should probably grab something to eat. You've been out this whole time." I nodded and uncurled myself from Dimitri and walked towards the small kitchen at the back of the plane. I grabbed some chips and a donut before walking back and devouring them.

"Dimitri told me about the Psi Hounds at St Vlad's." I nodded. "So you've got someone after you then?"

"It looks that way. Although nothing has happened since, maybe we were just unlucky that night to be there when they were." Eddie looked doubtful but didn't say anything. Dimitri woke up just before we came into landing and was on his feet ready to go quicker than I was. A black sedan was waiting for us, Dimitri and Eddie were in full Guardian mode as we made our way into the car and Dimitri drove us towards his home. We drove for an hour before Dimitri pulled over in front of a two story home. Eddie grabbed our bags while Dimitri watched the area and helped me out of the car. He gave me a quick kiss before Eddie walked around the side of the car.

A woman that looked like she was in her late 50's ran out of the house and into Dimitri's waiting arms. "Dimka!"

"Hello Mama." She spoke in Russian too quick for me to follow for a moment and then Dimitri stepped back and gave me a gorgeous smile. "Mama, this is my charge Rose Mazur."

Her eyes widened as she got a look at me. "I didn't know you were Guardian a Princess, Dimitri." He shrugged.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Belikova. Please call me Rose." I gave her a large smile.

"Oh dear, the pleasure is all mine. I'm Olena." She pulled me into a warm hug and I couldn't help but grin.

"This is my other Guardian, Eddie Castile." I waved over to Eddie and he gave her a bow. She pulled him into a hug also. I liked this woman already.

Olena ushered us all inside to the living room. "Uncle Dimitri!" A voice called down the hallway and in ran a boy who was taller than me and looked like a smaller and younger version of Dimitri.

"Paul! You've grown."

Paul nodded with wide eyes and a huge smile. "I'm taller than all the other boys in my year." After that two women walked in one carrying a toddler and the other pregnant, they gave Dimitri hugs and they exchanged words in Russian.

"I want you all to meet, Rose Mazur and Eddie Castile." He said when they gave him a chance to speak. The all had similar wide eyed looks like Olena had.

"Hi" I waved to break the awkward silence.

Paul dropped into a bow. "Princess" He couldn't have been older than 10 even though he towered over me.

"Oh, please call me Rose. None of this Princess stuff." I pulled him back up from his bow. He nodded and bounced on his feet happily. Making me chuckle.

"It's nice to meet you Rose, Eddie. I'm Karolina, Dimitri's sister and this is Sonya and this little one is Zoya, and you've already met Paul." She pointed to the woman behind her and the toddler in her arms that was giving me curious looks under her mother's hair.

"It's nice to meet you all." I told them all.

"Dimka!" I short blur ran down the stairs and into Dimitri's arms. He laughed loudly. "Hello little sister."

She pulled away from him giving us both a good look at one another. "Vika!?" I yelled.

"Roza!" She ran into my arms and wrapped herself around me knocking me to the floor in the process. The Belikov's all had looks of horror at Vika but I just waved them off behind her back.

"My god, it's been years. How are you?" I asked her while she still clung to me.

"I'm great Roza! I've missed you!"

"I missed you too Vik."

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents." She released me pulling me back up to my feet.

I gave her a smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry I haven't been back to visit after they died." She waved me off.

"Does someone want to tell me what's going on here?" Dimitri asked looking at the both of us.

"Roza used to visit Russia a few weeks every year with her father. We met a few times at school. She used to train with us novices when her dad was in meetings."

I nodded. "Vika, always _tried_ to kick my ass."

"Hey! I pinned you once."

I rolled my eyes. "Please, you call that a pin? You tripped me over when I was walking to the showers!"

"Still counts!" I laughed and hugged her again. Vika was like a Dhampir version of me. We had the same drive and sense of humour, she was a year younger than I was but that never stopped us from becoming good friends.

"Wait a minute, _your_ Dimitri's sister?" Clearly the only photo I seen of Dimitri's family had either been really bad quality or I wasn't looking hard enough.

She pulled back and nodded wiggling her brows. "And you must be his charge." I nodded.

"Small world." We both said at the same time and then cracked up laughing.

"Aw god there's two of them now." Paul whined looking at Vika and I.

"Oh Shh Paul." She said hitting him over the back of the head softly. He poked his tongue out in response.

I could see Eddie giving Vika a longing look out of the corner of my eye and decided to introduce them. "Vika this is my other Guardian and friend Eddie Castile." She gave him a smile and I watched him melt. Oh this is going to be good. We got settled in after that. Dimitri's family were all extremely nice and happy to have him back.

Olena made us lunch and I quickly became obsessed with her black bread. "So how long have you been guarding Roza?" Olena asked Dimitri across the table.

"A couple of months back. Queen Ivashkov wanted her to have a Guardian and I volunteered."

"You know the _Queen_?" Vika asked him in a high pitched voice making me laugh and her to elbow my in the ribs.

Dimitri nodded. "Yes, Roza is actually going to be working with her when we get back. She's training to be the next Queen."

Vika gasped and everyone turned to stare at me. "Thanks Comrade." I muttered. He grinned happy to push the questions away from himself.

"You're going to be our Queen?" Vika whispered.

"Yeah... I feel sorry for you guys." Dimitri shook his head and Eddie _tried_ to disguise his laugh with a cough.

An older lady walked into the room then and Dimitri stood up to greet her with a hug and kiss when he stepped back she hit him over the back of the head. "What took you so long?"

He gave her an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry Babushka." She hit him again and sat down across from me. She eyed me for a long tense minute or two.

"Babushka, this is Roza." Dimitri said when he noticed our stare off.

"I know who she is." She looked like she was trying to make me back down from my stare off but I held my ground. She nodded after another couple of minutes and started eating like nothing happened. The woman seemed all kinds of crazy.

After lunch I asked to help clean up. "Don't be silly Roza. Dimitri can help me. His missed out on washing up for the last few years." She said ushering him into the kitchen. "Go relax in the lounge room if you like." She gave me a warm smile before following her son.

Eddie and Vika were in deep conversation on the lounge. Karolina and Sonya were nowhere to be seen with Zoya, leaving Paul. I walked over and sat on the floor beside him. "Got any good games?" He grinned at me. "A few." He showed me a draw full of board games and decks of cards.

I grabbed a deck and sat back down on the floor. "How about we build a house of cards?" Paul nodded eagerly and we got started.

"Rozzzza" Paul whined when I knocked over our tenth house.

"I'm sorry! It's harder than it looks." I tried explaining.

He laughed and we tried again.

After another failed attempted that I blamed on my jetlag I decided to cheat, much to Paul's amusement. I used 'air' and lifted the cards up in the form of a big tower and held them together like that. Of course as soon as I stopped applying air to the tower it all came tumbling down.

"That is so cool Roza!" Paul gushed.

"Having fun?" Dimitri said from behind me. I didn't even know he was in the room.

"I would be but Paul keeps knocking everything over."

"Hey! I do not!" I laughed and pat him on the top of the head while getting up and sitting on the lounge Dimitri occupied.

"They like you." He said softly into my ear.

I grinned. "I like them." I told him honestly.

"I still cannot believe you know Vika" He said.

"Yeah, we were inseparable at St Basils while I was visiting. One of the novices was giving me a hard time because I was a female Moroi fighting. Naturally I got mad but Vika stepped up just before I did and we beat the crap out of him. After that you couldn't keep us away from one another." Dimitri chuckled.

He leaned down and kissed me. We both got lost in the kiss until we heard a throat clearing. I turned embarrassed to see Olena, Eddie and Vika giving us amused smiles while Paul was making gagging noises rolling around on the floor.

"Sorry Mama" Dimitri said turning a cute shade of pink.

She laughed. "Do not be sorry son. I'm happy for you both." I grinned and cuddled into Dimitri's side. We spent the arvo watching some TV and relaxing and after another mouth-watering meal everyone headed to bed.

Vika gave me a huge hug. "I'm so glad you're here Roza." She kissed my cheek.

"Me too Vika. Maybe you'll even manage to pin me once while I'm here."

She got an excited look in her eye. "Oh, you're on girl." She winked at me and headed upstairs.

"I'm sorry we don't have more room for you all Roza. I hope you don't mind taking Dimitri's old room." Olena said.

"Don't be silly Olena. Dimitri's room's fine." She smiled and gave me a hug and a kiss and gave Dimitri one too before heading off to bed. Dimitri grabbed some blankets for Eddie who was taking the lounge and led me upstairs to his room. I grabbed my PJ's and changed in the bathroom before meeting Dimitri back in his room. There was one seriously hot make out session before we both fell asleep wrapped around one another.

 **What did you guys think?**

 **Are we happy that Eddie is the new Guardian?**

 **What about the fact the Vika and Roza are old friends?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Double Date**

"Ok where are we going this morning?" I asked quietly as Dimitri and I walked downstairs.

"You'll see." I frowned until he kissed it away.

I walked into the lounge room to find Eddie hanging half off and half on the sofa. I was glad the boys didn't have to take turns being on duty with the Belikov's living on Moroi time. There were no Strigoi out while we slept and the sun was out. And we didn't have to worry much about another threat on my life while the suns out, I did sleep in the arms of one of the best Guardian's after all. I walked over to him and pushed the sofa forward from the back. He fell to the floor with a thud before jumping up into attack position. I covered my mouth trying to quiet my laugh. "That wasn't nice Rosie." He said after spotting me behind him.

"You should have seen your face." I snickered, it took me a few moments to regain some composure. "Dimitri and I are going out for training. I thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to come."

He nodded. "Yeah I'll come. Just give me a minute to change." Eddie and I took off at a run following Dimitri around the streets of Baia. It wasn't a very big town, what surprised me after the sun went down was the amount of human's living easily among Dhampir and even some Moroi. Baia was one of the communities for Dhampir that don't want to train to be Guardians can live without hiding themselves in the human world.

The three of us turned a lot of heads while we ran by. Dimitri stopped outside a large building and led us in. It was a gym, the equipment was older than anything I had used before but I wasn't going to complain. Eddie worked out while Dimitri and I took turns on the weights. After that we all walked into another room that was used for sparring. "Alright, I want you in the ring with Eddie." Dimitri said and looked up at us both from his seat on the floor. I nodded and got into attack stance across from Eddie.

"Now Rose, I want you to remember our lessons. Find weaknesses and use them to your advantage, and use your strengths against him." I hadn't fought Eddie in about 5 months so I was excited to see how it would go. Eddie took the first step and feigned a right punch to my gut just before he followed through with his left. I managed to knock the first punch away and the second one a moment before it would have collided with my shoulder blade. I took a note out of Eddies book and feigned a left hit which he blocked and instead gave him and upper cut to the gut that made contact. He moaned but kept upright.

After a few minutes I managed to deliver a good kick to his knee bringing him forward onto the mats. I didn't waste any time before my practise stake was over his heart through his back. I got up and helped him back up. "That was a good kick Rose."

"You can thank Dimitri for that move." Eddie took a step forward and winced.

Shit.

"Here let me see it." I said pulling him back down onto the mat. "It's not broken." I said touching the sore area. "Dimitri can you grab us some ice?" He nodded and went into another room and brought back an ice pack. I took it from him and put my hand quickly against his knee sending the magic through before putting the ice pack over it. It was something that I had done once or twice while training with Mason and Eddie in the past.

I felt myself getting a dizzy. I gave Dimitri a meaningful look. His eyes widened. "Keep the ice on for a few minutes. I want to show Rose something while we're here." Dimitri said to Eddie before helping me up and towards the room Dimitri had grabbed the ice out of. It appeared to be a small kitchen with a table and chairs, possibly a staffroom for the gym.

"Are you ok Roza?"

"Yeah, I just need some blood, the healing takes it out of me." He sat me down on a chair and sat on his knees in front of me and bared his neck. "No Dimitri!"

"Roza please."

"I can't…" I said in a small voice. Looking at the veins in his neck.

"Yes you can love. Please, the nearest feeders another 20 minute walk. Do you really want me carrying you all that way?" I finally caved and leant forwards and sunk my fangs into the largest vein in Dimitri's neck. He moaned and pulled me closer to him until he was in between my legs.

After my fill I pulled back and held Dimitri still. I used my magic to heal the bites straight away, with all the blood in me now it didn't take anything out ok me to heal. "Are you ok?" I asked. His lips crashed into mine and he picked me up and sat me on the table beside us. He pushed my back until I was laying down and he was on top of me. "Dimitri?"

He moaned "Yes Roza?"

"Are you ok?" He nodded and kissed down my neck. "Dimitri we need to get back to Eddie." He pulled back a bit to look into my eyes. I was surprised to see him in complete control. He kissed my neck again than my lips before pulling me back off the table and onto my feet. We walked out to see Eddie standing. "How does it feel?"

"Much better, can't even feel it.

I smiled. "Ok, I think that's enough for one morning." Dimitri said and we ran back to his home.

I made Dimitri eat something as soon as we made it back. Olena was already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. "Good morning Olena."

"Good morning to you too Roza."

"It smells delicious." I inhaled over the stove she was cooking at. She chuckled. I grabbed some black bread for Dimitri and walked upstairs to find him in the bedroom. "Here you go."

He smiled. "Thank you, Milaya Moyna." ('my sweet' in Russian). I winked at him and left to shower while Dimitri ate. I dressed in a grey t-shirt I tied in a knot around my hips so that it didn't look so baggy and pulled on my black jeans. After I was finished I let Dimitri shower and walked back downstairs to see Vika and Eddie chatting at the dining table while eating breakfast.

Vik looked up at me first and I wriggled my eye brows at her making her cheeks go pink. "Good morning Viktoria."

She glared at me as I took the seat beside her. "Morning Roza." She mumbled making me laugh.

"Do you have any plans for today?" I asked her a few bites into my black bread. This stuff was just too good.

"Not really."

"We should head to the shops or something."

Her eyes lit up. "We should definietly do that. I know one not far that's open 24/7. They get plenty of business with all of the Moroi and Dhampir around here."

Dimitri walked down the stairs and kissed Vika and Olena on the cheek before taking the seat on my other side. "Vika and I want to hit some shops today." I told him.

"We can do that." Dimitri agreed. Paul walked down stairs next half asleep mumbling something.

"Morning Paul." I smiled at him.

His eyes lit up as he seen me. "Good morning Roza!" He gave me these big loving puppy dog eyes.

"Looks like you might have some competition Comrade." I whispered nodding to Paul.

Dimitri smiled. "It seems that way doesn't it."

Eddie, Vika, Dimitri and I got ready after breakfast and headed out to the shopping centre. Dimitri and Eddie sat in the front all Guardian like after we left the secure wards of Baia. "So how are those boys treating you Vik?" I asked loud enough for Eddie to hear our conversation.

"Eh, don't even remind me. I can't wait to graduate next year and get away from St Basils. "

"Oh? What happened with Nikolai?"

"Nothing happened. He ended up seeing this Royal Moroi."

"Sorry Vik."

She gave a smile. "It's fine, it just wasn't meant to be."

"You'll find someone soon I'm sure." I gave Eddie a look through the side mirror and winked.

Dimitri pulled up in a park at the shopping centre. "Another underground car park Comrade?"

"Unfortunately" He said opening the door for Vika and I while looking everywhere. Both him and Eddie stayed close to us as we made our way inside. Vika pulled me towards her favourite shops and we started going through rack after rack pulling clothes with us as we went. I hadn't had this much fun shopping in a while, it was good just going through shops not having a 'special occasion' I had to find an entire outfit for.

I grabbed a bunch of things Vika liked and paid for them before she got out of the change room. "Roza! What are you doing?" She screeched from behind me as I handed over my card.

Caught out. "Oh me? Nothing... Come on, you know I've got plenty of money Vik. Let me spoil you for today?" She gave me a stern look. "Don't deny the fact you don't want them all." She tried to fight the smile on her face but ended up failing.

We went through a few shops and made Eddie and Dimitri carry everything. By the time lunch came around I was tired and hungry. "We should grab something to eat and maybe hit a movie." The guys were happy with that idea. We enjoyed sitting watching the action movie together, it was almost like a double date. When the movie was over, I told the others I had to go to the bathroom.

Vika joined me and the guys waited outside. "I think Eddie likes you." I told her when we were washing up in the sink.

"Oh stop it. You always loved to meddle."

"Hey you can't blame a girl for wanting two of her closest friends to be happy." She smiled. A woman exited one of the stalls and walked around us to the sink. I looked up through the mirror to see red in her eyes before I was hit hard from behind and thrown forward into the mirror I was looking through.

I gasped and sunk to the floor. I looked up in horror to see the woman sink her fangs into Vika's neck. I ignored the pain and grabbed my stake out. I jumped forward and slashed her face with the stake until she released Vika who fell onto the floor in a heap. I didn't have time to see if she was ok before the Strigoi attacked. She was a good fighter, after a few minutes of fighting and failing to concentrate on the magic. I finally pinned her. I slashed my stake at her and ended up slashing a part of her throat. She hissed loudly in pain so I slashed again at the same area. With one more slash most of her head was cut from her neck. She fell to the ground in a heap almost head. I took that moment to drive the stake into her chest until it pierced her heart. When she stopped moving altogether, I fell back and crawled over to Vika.

"Vik" I tried to yell for Dimitri but it came out in a whisper. I was losing a lot of blood and took a lot of decent hits from the Strigoi. Vika was alive still but unconscious from the blood loss. It took a moment but I finally got myself under control enough and healed Vika's bites so they stopped bleeding and her colour returned.

"Roza?" She said looking up at me.

"Vik, come on we've got to get out of here." We both managed to get onto our feet and over to the door. Dimitri gave us a horror look as he seen us exit the bathroom. "What happened?"

"Strigoi" I gasped out. Eddie grabbed Vika and Dimitri held onto me. "She's dead." I told him. He nodded. Dimitri carried me until he found an empty cinema, Eddie and him sat us down while Dimitri went back to the bathroom. "Are you ok Vika?"

"Yeah, Roza. You saved my life."

I tried to smile. "Don't mention it."

"How do you feel?"

"Like I just got thrown into a mirror, face first." I replied.

She chuckled. Five minutes later Dimitri was back. "There's an Alchemist and Guardian clean-up crew on their way. I need you to get them both back home Eddie, Rose needs blood too. I'll get a feeder to meet you there." Eddie nodded and held onto us both and took us out the back exit. I was laid down on the back seat of the sedan while Vika sat in the front with Eddie driving. I fell in and out of consciousness on the drive home. Olena was already outside waiting for us when we parked out the front. Vika managed to walk into the house while Eddie picked me up bridal style.

"Roza!" Olena called when she seen me.

"I'm alright Olena" I told her but I'm not even sure I managed to get the words out. A human sat on the lounge and Eddie sat me down next to him and held my head gently against the man's neck. I sunk my teeth in without a second thought. I took as much blood as I could without hurting the man, before I pulled away and Eddie picked me back up. I could hear Olena telling him to take me upstairs to Dimitri's room. I was laid down on the soft bed. "Are you of Rose?" Eddie asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright. Is Vik ok?"

"She's doing much better than you are right now."

Olena walked in the room and Eddie excused himself. "Roza, sweetheart." Olena murmured looking at my wounds.

"Can you get the mirror out?" I pointed to the cuts on my face. She nodded and grabbed some things out of the bathroom across the hall and came back in. "It's going to hurt." I nodded and bit down on my tongue while she worked. "It's all out."

"Thanks Olena. I probably won't be awake after this. Let Dimitri know what happened ok?" She gave me an odd look but nodded. I lifted my hands to either side of my face and used my magic. I felt the wounds close, I moved my hands around everywhere I was sore until I couldn't feel any pain. Olena sat there in shock. I gave her a small smile before letting the darkness take over.

 **Everything was going so well! :(**

 **Just a heads up before the next chapter - Olena, Eddie and Vika all know something is up. But all three of them respect Rose and won't go demanding questions as to why she can heal herself. Eddie will find out soon enough, and I reckon Yeva would start hitting Vika and Olena if they asked any questions. That woman is way too well-knowing for her own good. You'll see more in the next chapter.**

 **How do you guys feel about the possibility of something between Eddie and Vika? If you haven't already figured it out Jill isn't in this story.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - Spirit**

I woke up to see Dimitri hovering over me. "Roza?"

"Comrade" I sighed his nickname in relief.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, I think I need more blood. The healing took everything out of me." He nodded and leaned down exposing his neck for me. I didn't argue with him this time before drinking my fill. He pulled away after I laid back down and healed the wound on his neck.

"Better?" His Russian accent laced the word.

"Much, thank you. I'm sorry Dimitri."

"You never have to be sorry Roza."

I pulled him down for a hug. "How's Vika?"

"She's fine after Mama got some food into her. What happened?"

"We were washing our hands when she came up behind us. She pushed me straight into the mirror and started drinking from Vik. I managed to get my stake out and attack her so she let Vik go. I couldn't get hold of the magic. It took too much concentration and every time I tried she got a few hits on me. I managed to stake her than heal Vik enough to get out of there."

"You did well Roza, thank you for saving her and yourself."

"Thanks Comrade."

"Let's get you downstairs for some real food." I nodded and let him help me downstairs to the dining room.

Vika ran straight for me when she seen me. "Roza! I was so worried when Mama said you passed out."

"I'm alright Vik."

"Thank you, I don't know what you did in there. But whatever it was, thank you for it." I smiled and Dimitri's grandmother walked in. She pushed Dimitri out of the way and gave me a long look. She muttered something in Russian I didn't understand.

"What did she say?"

"She said Spirit Child." Vika told me looking strangely at the old woman.

"Spirit?" I asked Yeva. She nodded. She leaned in until her mouth was next to my ear.

"Train your Spirit, you will need it. Be prepared. Don't take this off, it will help." She said in English and pulled back after she placed something small in my hand. I nodded numbly and she walked away.

The woman was crazy but there was something about what she said that fit in place. I looked into my hand to see a silver ring, no diamonds or carvings just a plain band. I slipped it on and it was like having an epiphany. I could feel the magic burn through my body before it sizzled out. Spirit… I had read books when I first realised I could heal. 'Spirit' was mentioned a number of times. The Moroi that could use Spirit had different abilities. If I had Spirit my ability could be the fact that I can heal. She said I would need it. "Yeva!" I yelled as she started for the stairs. She paused and turned around and nodded before continuing upstairs. I knew what she meant. Something was coming, something big and I would need to use Spirit.

People were going to get hurt.

"Roza?" Dimitri asked with a worried look on her face.

I shook my head and sat deep in thought while we ate. We all heard a small cry from upstairs. Karo sighed heavily. "May I?" I asked her pointing to the stairs.

"Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded. "Be my guest."

I smiled and walked up the stairs. Zoya was rolling around in her cot crying. "Hey, little Zoya. Wanna come outside with me?" She stopped crying and looked up at me curiously. "Come on, you can show me around." I said soothingly. I picked her up and sat her on my hip. Zoya was just over 6 months old and she was an adorable little thing. She played with my hair as I walked downstairs passed the table where everyone was still seated and out the back door. We walked around the garden while the sun rose. I pointed to some flowers and Zoya smiled happily as I cooed random words to her.

Dimitri kept a close eye on us but left me to my thoughts. A rocked Zoya pack and forth while thinking about what Yeva said earlier. If I was going to start practising Spirit I knew that it would take a lot out me. I would need blood more often than once a day. And I would need something to practise on. I couldn't very well keep injuring anyone just so I could heal them. I needed a plan. My eyes raked over the garden, a pot plant sat next to the back fence. The plant was dying or already dead, curious I walked over to it and touched one of the dead leaves with my finger tip. I sent some of my magic into it and the frazzled brown leaf turned green and pieced itself back together. I touched the stem after that and tried again, the whole plant stood up and flowers blossomed.

Holy Crap. I could use this to practise on, plants, trees, grass, flowers anything dying and use my magic to heal them. Zoya giggled and clapped her hands excitedly. "Did you like that little Красавица?" (Beauty) I murmured to her. Excited I walked around the garden and touched every plant I walked past whether it was dying or not. By the time I turned around and looked at what I had done they whole garden was blossoming with coloured flowers. I felt eyes on me and turned around to see Babushka watching me through a window. She watched me for a moment longer before disappearing further inside. Zoya had her eyes on a large pink flower so I snapped it off and gave it to her to play with. She giggled happily.

Dimitri walked outside and wrapped his arms around me. "Are you ok Roza?"

I nodded. "Yeah I'm alright now."

The next few days went by without problems. Vika and I recovered back to full health quickly. Olena didn't ask me what happened after I returned from the attack. Eddie and Vika kept giving me curious glances about my lack of injuries but decided not to comment on it. A Moroi man dropped by and gave me another Molnija mark a couple of days later. Dimitri and I loved spending time with his family and on our last day in Baia we decided to come back for a visit after Sonya's baby was born. Vika and I had bets on whether the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. I choose girl. Olena cried while she hugged us all breaking my heart. Eddie and Vika had grown a lot closer and I knew they would keep in close contact after we left.

Yeva let Dimitri hug her and she gave me a meaningful look. Sonya and Karo hugged us all and Paul begged me not to leave him. I gave little Zoya another flower and she giggled and played with my hair as I kissed her little forehead. It was almost like having my family back, the way they were all so loving towards me and I loved them all too. We stayed mostly quiet on the way home. I think all of us were going to miss Baia although I was pretty sure Eddie was going to miss Vika more than anything. I hadn't forgotten about what Yeva had told me and I was going to start training spirit as well as getting back into my other magic I had been neglecting. I still had to let Eddie in on the secret, he would be around too often for it to go unnoticed.

 _Beep beep beep_ I reached over for the annoying alarm but once again Dimitri beat me to it and pulled it out of my reach. "Morning Roza." He murmured nuzzling into my neck.

"Morning Comrade." Eddie had decided to stay in Guardian housing, even after both Dimitri and I insisted multiple times that we wouldn't mind having him here. So he met us outside after we were dressed and ready for training. When we made it back to the gym after our run I decided it was time to let Eddie know.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah Rose?" he said between sips of his water.

"I have something I need to tell you."

He watched me for a minute. "Does it have something to do with what happened in Baia?"

I nodded. "Yes, it does. You know how I haven't specialised in any magic?"

"Yes"

"Well that isn't 100% true. See it's not true because I haven't specialised in one particular element... I've specialised in them all."

His eyes widened. "What?"

I used the water in his drink bottle and splashed it all over his face. Next I sent all the air spiralling around him until his hair was blowing wildly. The ground underneath us shook and fire emerged from my palms. "Holy shit Rose!"

"Yeah but that's not all." I grabbed my stake and made a small cut in the palm of my hand and then healed it with the other. His mouth hung open. I turned to see Dimitri smiling at me. He had never seen me use the elements like this before.

After a minute Eddie got himself under control. "This is insane Rose."

"Yeah, I know. Don't ask me why I can do these things, I have no idea. But I can do them."

He nodded slowly. "That's how you've been killing Strigoi, with magic?"

"I killed the first 4 with the help of magic but the one in Baia, I did it without magic."

"Can you heal anyone?"

"I'm not completely sure, everyone I've tried so far its worked on, but I end up extremely drained of energy until the point where I pass out for a couple of hours. Small cuts aren't so bad, but the bigger the injury the more magic I need the more I'm drained.

Eddie's mind was working in over time. "This can't get out. Moroi Royals would freak if they realised you had this sort of power. Maybe once your Queen they will accept it, but beforehand I'm not so sure."

Dimitri walked over to us. "That's right, no one can know about Roza. For now at least this must remain between us and Lissa." Eddie nodded.

"The reason I've told you is because I'm going to start practising using magic while I fight. Yeva told me I needed to be ready. Something is going to happen and I have to be prepared."

"She told you that?" Dimitri asked.

"Yeah" He looked thoughtful as he stared off at nothing in particular.

"You believe her?" Eddie asked.

"I do."

Dimitri nodded agreeing with me. "Babushka might be a little crazy but she has always seen things before they happen."

"Ok, how are we going to start training then?" Eddie asked.

"I was thinking I could start using some magic on the dummies. But the problem I seem to be having is getting myself under control enough to use the magic while I'm already fighting. I was taken off guard with Vika and didn't have time to prepare but I did back in Montana with the Strigoi and Psi Hounds." Eddie nodded.

"Why don't you fight one of us and use your magic at the same time aiming for the practise dummies? It could be a good start."

A gave him a smile. "I think that's a great idea Castile."

Dimitri pulled one of the practise dummies onto the sparring mat and Eddie and I got into a fighting stance. "Ok Roza, you can't use your magic until I say. That way you will be surprised and will have to focus." I nodded. Eddie pinned me easily the first three times as I tried to focus on the magic while fighting.

"It's not working!" I whined.

Dimitri came up behind me and put his hands on my hips and started whispering in my ear. "You can do this Roza, feel the magic inside you. It's always there, underneath the surface. Close your eyes and visualised the magic in your hands and in your chest. Imagine you fighting, the magic is lying dormant waiting for your command to spring free. You just have to release it when I say ok?" I nodded.

Eddie sprung forward started a well-balanced fight between us. "Now!" Dimitri yelled.

Eddie threw a hit towards my shoulder, in the space of the time he snapped his fist forward everything seemed to slow down. The magic blew through me and without even looking up I knew that the dummy was on fire. I also knew the dummies further back were sent flying with air and they would soon crash into the wall behind them. My wrist knocked Eddies hit out of the way just in time. The dummies collided with the walls and Eddie turned to see what happened. I used his distraction to pin him and stake him quickly. I rolled off panting, and looking at the dummies. The closest one was completely lit on fire, the four behind it were in pieces on the floor. "Shit" I gasped.

Eddie nodded. I pulled the magic out of the fire and back into me until there was none left.

"You did it Roza."

"Yeah, a hell of a lot better than I was expecting." Eddie added.

"Me too." I agreed

"I think you're going to need some more dummies." Eddie said pulling me up off the floor.

"That's enough for one day Roza. You've got to meet the Queen in an hour to start your training." Eddie left to go change so he could be back before we left. I showered and dressed in a black and white stripped sheer long sleeved shirt and white dress pants that had a tie around the waist with white pumps.

"Your look beautiful, Milaya."

"Thanks Comrade." I put my hair up into a high neat pony tail and added some pink lip gloss. I grabbed a white clutch and put my stake inside with my things and headed outside with Dimitri.

Dimitri and Eddie stayed by my side after we parked the car and headed into Parliament. I walked down the familiar halls until I walked up to Tatiana's receptionist. The lady behind the desk looked up. "Princess Mazur, my names Rachel Drozdov."

"It's nice to meet you Rachel."

"You too Princess, I'll just let Queen Ivashkov know you are here." She picked up her phone for a moment before getting up and opening the door for us.

"Thank you Rachel."

"Your welcome Princess." We were welcomed by the royal guardians in the waiting room I had flirted with Dimitri in last week and showed into the Queen's office.

"Rose"

"Tatiana, how are you?"

"I'm well thank you."

I nodded and gestured to Eddie. "This is my new Guardian Edison Castile, but Eddie to us." She smiled and shook Eddie's hand.

"How was your trip?"

"It was good for the most part." She gave me a questioning look. "Dimitri's sister Viktoria and I were attacked by a Strigoi in a restroom now far out of Baia."

Her eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I managed to kill her before she did any real damage."

She nodded slowly and walked around her desk to sit down. She pointed to the seat across from her and I sat down. "There have been an increase in the number of attacks on Moroi in the last 6 months. It only makes me want to put you in this seat that much sooner. If Strigoi keep on this path, our numbers will drop significantly in the next few years." She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We will discuss this later. For now let's get you settled. I have an office organised for you down the hall and an assistant that you will meet shortly."

"Wow thank you."

She gave me a small tired smile. "Don't mention in Rose. First order of business each day is a briefing on any events that have transpired in the last 24 hours worldwide. A Queen must always be kept up-to-date with all matters concerning her people. If there is anything that you can help with after the briefing or any large matters of concern, they can either be dealt with straight away for any immediate matters that need your attention. If the matter is not immediate, you will bring it up in the meeting with the Council which happens daily. As Princess you will be involved in these meetings anyway. There are three outcomes in these sort of meetings for each topic."

"First, is the table will have a majority vote if we are in favour of the topic than plans will be made and carried out accordingly. Secondly, is if the majority do not vote in favour. The matter will be dropped but you have cause to bring it to attention again if you have another Council member's agreement. With me so far?" I nodded. "Good, third is if the vote is either 50/50 or close to, you as Queen will have the final decision. In this case your vote will count as the only one that matters. You also have every right to overrule a vote if you strongly agree or disagree. But in these cases, you _must_ have sufficient evidence to support your decision." She paused and collected her thoughts.

"You have to be prepared to argue your case, even Queen's don't always get our way Rose. Remember that. Other than these meetings, you will regularly be called in by Moroi for issues they would like to discuss. Dhampir go through other sources first but I hope that will change soon. Moroi can be extremely persistent, do not let them get to you. Always explain that you will take their issues into consideration and you will have a decision in a day or two. You will be busy attending functions regularly but do not take on more than you can chew. Make sure you have time for yourself and your friends. " I nodded along taking it all in.

"Your assistant will organise any meetings you have, and also call on your behalf to make meetings and/or any arrangements you need. She will go over your schedule for the day every morning after the briefing in case any changes need to be made. Now I have some books I need you to read and make notes on. These are the rules for the Royal Meetings. You need to be aware of what you can and cannot do. I want you to join me every morning for briefing's we can go through them together. At 10PM the Royal Meeting commences, it will go until Midnight or until all matters for the day have been addressed. After that I want you to get stuck into these books for a couple of hours before you head home. Do you have any questions?"

"Not right now."

She smiled. "Ok let's get you to your office."

I followed her out of the room, passed Rachel and down the hall. Tatiana smiled at a few people as she walked through the halls until she stopped at a desk with a middle aged Moroi woman. "Rose, this is your assistant Lena Voda." Lena stood and bowed

"Princess Mazur" I gave her a smile and greeted her and followed Tatiana into the room behind Lena's desk.

It was well decorated with grey walls and white furniture and wooden floors with a large grey rug. There was a sitting area near a window the over looked Court and a large desk and chair in the middle of the room facing towards the door. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect, thank you."

"It's my pleasure Rose. Today I want you to get acquainted with how daily things work and then get some reading done. Lena will give you a tour of Parliament if you like. It would be helpful for you to know where everything is and we will start working together at the briefing in my office tomorrow at 9PM. Make sure you take plenty of notes for everything. Every Friday we will have a separate meeting to go over things together and to further prepare you." I nodded and thanked her before she left leaving Dimitri, Eddie and I.

"I feel like you guys are going to get extremely bored following me around here all day."

Dimitri chuckled. "That's kind of our job Roza."

"Yeah, it could be worse. We could have to read all of those rule books." Eddie pointed to the large pile I had to read for the Queen.

"Asshole" I muttered making Eddie snicker. "Well don't just stand around like that at least take a seat." They did as I asked and took seats in the sitting area. Dimitri pulled out one of his novels and Eddie took out his phone. I opened the book on top and started.

After an hour I voted for a break. We decided to get Lena to give us a tour of Parliament. I had only been to the main areas before. Lena was very professional but extremely nice. I was lucky to have her. She showed us into the meeting room for the Council, the entrance to the Queens quarters, the offices of the other Princesses and Princes, where the kitchens & feeders were and each department in the building. We spent a good hour just walking around after that Lena joined us in the office and we went over a few day to day things and my schedule for tomorrow before she left me to my reading. I called Lissa before we left the office and arranged to meet her for dinner.

 **What did you guys think of this chapter?**

 **She's starting her training now. How do you think she'll go?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 - Preparing To Be Queen**

"Are you ready Roza?" Dimitri called from downstairs.

"Yes, I'm just putting on my shoes!" I yelled back grabbing me nude pumps and shoving them on my feet. Today was the first day the I would be attending the Royal Council meeting as a full council member and I was a little nervous, well that's putting it mildly. I walked back out of my wardrobe to have a look in the mirror. I decided to wear a light purple fitted dress with a high neckline and sleeves down to my elbows. It had a small slit up one knee but it was both professional and sexy. I of course grabbed my stake and slipped it in my purse and headed downstairs.

"We can't be late for the briefing Rose, quickly!" Dimitri scolded me while holding the door of the SUV open for me.

"Sorry Comrade! You can't rush perfection." He rolled his eyes but I could see the humour in them too.

"Good morning Rachel." I greeting Tatiana's assistant.

"Good morning Princess, please go straight inside. Queen Ivashkov's expecting you." I nodded and the guys followed me inside as well as Rachel.

"You're lucky Rose, one more minute and you'd be late." Tatiana said as soon as I sat down.

I grinned at her. "Lucky I arrived just in time."

She chuckled. "Ok, let's begin." Tatiana stood from behind her desk and joined me at her sitting area. She had three Guardian's in the room and one of them stepped forward with paperwork in his hand. "Rose, I'd like you to meet Guardian Masterson he is Guardian Han's second in charge and he gives us a briefing every morning at this time." He bowed to us both.

"Nice to meet you Guardian Masterson."

"You too Princess Mazur."

"We have had reports of 3 attacks on Moroi in the last 24 hours. One in France, where two Moroi and 3 Guardians were killed. Sources say there were at least 6 Strigoi present during the attack. The other two were an hour South of Royal Court. It has not been confirmed but we believe the same group of 8 Strigoi led both attacks. Lord Benjamin Dashkov and Lady Marie Dashkov were both among the dead as well as their daughter, 8 year old Lady Samantha Dashkov and their 4 Guardians. The other attack was on 7 non royals and their 5 Guardian's. Unfortunately there were no survivors." I wasn't sure what I was expecting of this briefing, I knew it wasn't going to be all happy news but this was awful.

Tatiana took the news and ran with it. I could see the pain in her eyes at the news but she had a job to do. "Rachel?"

She stepped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Organise for the recently deceased Dashkov's to be brought back here to Royal Court and speak with their next of kin to arrange a funeral. I want to hold a conference before the Royal Meeting to announce the deaths and other recent attacks to Court. Send my condolences to the families of the other victims and advise the Guardian's next of kin about their deaths. I want to send out another message to Moroi worldwide and advise them to take caution as the number of attacks are increasing and make sure that they know we have room in the Courts for anyone that wishes to move where they will be more secured. I want to add more Guardian's to join any living tenants of Royal Court that are leaving the wards." Rachel nodded along and wrote everything down in a book she was holding.

Tatiana looked at me. "Do you have anything else to add Rose?"

I thought about it for a long moment. "If you will Tatiana I would like that message of caution to be sent to the Dhampir Communities as well. They have a right to know that they could be in danger."

Rachel looked at the Queen for confirmation. "Yes, Rachel please do that also. That will be all." With that Rachel and Guardian Masterson bowed and left the room.

"Thank you your majesty." I said once they left the room. I had been thinking of Dimitri's family when I brought up that subject.

"No need to thank me Rose. It is a good idea. Things have been this way for so long it's hard even for me to shake the habit. That is why I want you here." I nodded.

After that a conference was held and Tatiana announced the news of the victims overnight and said her condolences to anyone that knew the families. Before leading us to the Royal Meeting Room where the discussions started. The Council was made up of all the Prince's and Princess's as well as the Queen. Most of the time we had a full table but the Council members could go to and from Court as they pleased. But they only had a vote if they were present in the meeting room. For instance Natalie's father Viktor Dashkov was absent at the moment. He and Natalie were still on a holiday. When Tatiana explained it to me I felt sympathy toward the both of them. Viktor's disease wasn't getting any better. This could very well be their last holiday together.

The next three months went by. I was really enjoying how everything had been going. I was comfortable at Parliament now. Tatiana and I had dealt with a lot of issues together, she valued my opinion and she was a great mentor. I participated in the Royal Meetings and gave my opinion on matters. Things were a bit rocky for a while Viktor's holiday had to be cut short. I had spoken to Natalie a couple of times over the phone, apparently Viktor was in a Moroi hospital in London where they had been travelling together when he got extremely ill. The doctor's refused to return him home as he was too sick to fly. It didn't look good.

Lena was a big help in making sure I didn't get in over my head with everything I was working on. Lissa and Christian had found a home not far from ours and moved in together the week I started working with Tatiana. Lissa was absolutely thrilled about my relationship with Dimitri. Her words were. "It's about time Dimitri manned up and made a move."

Dimitri and I spoke with his family for a couple of hours every week. It was extremely comforting to have family call and see how we were and to just 'catch up'. Having absolutely no family myself, it made all the difference in the world. Sure I wasn't related to Olena and the rest of the Belikov's by blood but they treated me as if I was Dimitri's wife. According to Vika, they could all see that we were perfect for one another, and the actual 'getting married' part was just a final straw to the relationship. I thought the idea of marriage at 18 would scare me half to death, but in reality I was thrilled at the thought of being married to Dimitri. Sure I wasn't ready right this second, but one day in the future I hoped I would be standing at the alter with my handsome Russian by my side. Judgemental Moroi about our relationship be dammed.

I trained every morning with him and Eddie, I had accidentally injured them both once or twice with my magic but I was getting a lot better. It was much easier now to handle fighting and using magic together and I rarely felt drained like I used too. They both pushed me hard, the more adrenaline in me the easier it was to use my magic. They were both proud of how far I had come. But the threat of something coming never completely left my thoughts. Dimitri, Eddie and I were always on alert and kept an eye out for anything. It helped that we had our daily briefings with the Queen, if anything was to suddenly pop up, we would know. The only difference in those meeting though were a sudden drop in the number of attacks this week, Tatiana was happy to hear, Dimitri and Eddie relaxed just the slightest but I had a bad feeling, that didn't go away as the week continued.

After my morning practise with Dimitri and Eddie, I showered and changed into black skinny jeans, a black silk top and a dark red blazer and matching pumps and headed into the office. "Princess" Lena bowed when we reached my office. I was slowly getting use to the title but I made sure whenever it was just us that everyone call me Rose. "Good morning Lena" I had paperwork stacked on my desk when I walked inside my office. Tatiana had me dipping into all of the matters and departments in Parliament. All the things that the Council members were to 'high up' for, I was working on. According to Tatiana, as Queen I should know every in and out of how Parliament worked. From the jobs of the interns to Tatiana's job herself. I was pleasantly surprised I didn't have calluses on my hands from all the notes I had taken.

I started on some of the work when my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Good morning Rose."

"Tatiana, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to come in early for our briefing. There are urgent matters Guardian Hans wants us to deal with now."

"I'll be there in a minute." Dimitri and Eddie gave me curious looks.

I grabbed my bag and told Lena where we were heading and started walking quickly towards Tatiana's office. "Han's has some urgent matters." I told Dimitri and Eddie as we walked down the hall. I could feel the tension in both of them straight away. If Hans wanted an urgent meeting, something was wrong.

"Good morning Rachel."

"Princess, please go straight in." I nodded and walked inside.

Hans was already seated at Tatiana's sitting area. "Princess Mazur." He bowed.

"Guardian Hans, Queen Ivashkov." I took a seat beside Tatiana and we both look expectantly towards Hans.

"I'll get straight down to it, our Guardian Leaders have received intel of an attack on St Vladimir's Academy. They were able to narrow down the time frame of the attack to anywhere within the next three days." My heart started beating rapidly. Those evil blood sucking creatures were going to attack the school.

"Do we have a count on their numbers?" I asked him.

"We are expecting between 70 and 80 Strigoi." We both gasped.

I turned to see both Eddie and Dimitri with wide eyes. We all knew what the number of Guardians at the academy were like and against 80 Strigoi, they didn't stand a chance. Hell they didn't stand a chance against 50 Strigoi, if they broke through the wards. "St Vladimir's won't survive an attack of that magnitude, Tatiana." I told her.

She regarded me for a moment before speaking. "We need to send in reinforcements." Both Hans and I agreed.

"Is there any chance of getting the students out of there before the attack?" I asked him.

"I'm afraid not Princess. It would be too risky to travel by bus out of there and we cannot guarantee the airport will be fully secured while we get everyone out. If they happened to attack, we would have no cover. Every student would be in even more danger."

I nodded. "Well than you keep the students protected as best as possible inside the Academy. Use the eldest novices to help defend the students while the Guardians focus on the attack. It will add to the numbers on our side. And perhaps some of the teachers could infuse more stakes and set up new wards inside the school to protect the students when the time comes. A second line of defence after the human's break the first ward. Possibly a large building or two everyone can fit inside." I spoke in a tone that left no room for debate even though it was really Tatiana's decision in the end.

Hans gave me a shocked look before he recovered and Tatiana looked proud. "Good idea Rose. Anyone over the age of 16 can volunteer to guard the other students and get the wards organised as soon as possible." I nodded.

I gave Eddie and Dimitri a long look each before turning back. "Tatiana, I want to make a request to join the reinforcements."

She pursed her lips. "This is a lot bigger than anything you have faced Rose, bigger than any attack _I_ have ever heard of. Are you positive you want to go? This is war Rose and you are diving in to the deep end."

"Positive." I said without any hesitation. Not only Eddie and Dimitri but I could also be of use during and after the fight. My magic could help the injured after as well. I knew I wouldn't be able to fight without anyone discovering my secrets. If I was going to do this word would get out. I stood up and paced the room. Was I ready for the world to know about me? Was I ready to be looked at like a freak? Could I put up with all the ridicule and still keep my head held high and become Queen?

"Rose? What is it?" Tatiana asked. I tried to control my breathing. Dimitri came forward and stopped my pacing he looked into my eyes and they told me everything I needed in that moment. It was ok Rose. Be brave. I'm right here with you. I laced my fingers with his, it was the first time either of us showed any affection in front of anyone beside his family and Eddie. It was a risk, Guardians and charges weren't to have relationships and we just showed the Queen and Head Guardian both at once. Probably not our most wise decision, but I didn't have it in me to care at that moment. Tatiana looked happy about the development. Hans had his Guardian mask firmly in place.

"I have something I must tell you." I said straight to Tatiana. She listened carefully. "I have specialised in magic."

She had a surprised look on her face. "I wasn't aware of that, which element Rose?"

"All of them." Silence. Tatiana's surprised face dropped. She just stared at me unmoving and completely void of any emotions. "I can use them all, I've been training with them. I used some with the Strigoi, but the attack in Russia I did without magic."

Tatiana sat in thought for a moment. Trying to get her head around what I was telling her. If anyone else in the world had the magic I was capable of she would know and by the look on her face right now, it seemed I was the only one. Dimitri rubbed soothing circle's into the back of my palm while we waited for her to say something. "This is good." She whispered looking out the window.

"It is?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, for our 'over all' plan this is good news. But we need to focus on the attack. Guardian Belikov, do you believe Rose is ready for battle?" Dimitri had been with me every day for the last few months while I trained, he was the reason both Eddie and I had improved significantly. To get his approval would mean more to me than Tatiana telling me I was ready to take over as Queen.

"I believe she is ready, Your Majesty. She exceeds anything I have ever witnessed before with the use of her magic and she fights better than most Guardians. She's ready." My eyes stung with tears I refused to shed. I gave him a loving look that made him smile.

"Very well, you will go to St Vladimir's. Guardian Han's I trust you can gather the reinforcements?"

"Yes, they are already waiting for any command your majesty."

She nodded. "Let's get you all on the first flight out. Be careful."

"We will Tatiana. Thank you." With that we left. Hans followed us out. "We will get our things and meet you at the airport in 20 minutes." I told him.

"That's fine Princess."

In the car I called Lena and had her cancel my schedule for the next few days and let Lissa know where I was. I packed quickly with mostly clothes I would be comfortable to fight in and grabbed an extra couple of stakes from the gym, before we drove to pick up Eddie on our way to the airport. About 40 Guardians were waiting at the airport with Hans. That would make our numbers at the academy similar to the Strigoi's numbers. We were all quickly seated and the plane took off.

 **Shit's about to get crazy!**

 **How do you think everyone will react when word about her magic gets out?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 - St Vlad's**

We were in the air for 10 hours before landing at the airport next to St Vladimir's, Montana was a few hours behind Royal Court so it was only Moroi morning when we arrived. I recognised Mason, Anna, Aleksandr and Guardian Annikov all in our group. It seemed we were using up a lot of Court Guardians for this attack. I was given a LOT of curious looks but no one asked me except Mason of course. "Rose? What are you doing here?"

"I'm fighting." Was my simple response.

"The Queen's letting you fight?"

"Yep" I said popping the 'p'.

"Nice." Mason said before turned to Eddie and speaking with him. If everyone was that easily in agreement that I was fighting, I'd be stoked.

We all met at the Guardian Headquarters at St Vlad's inside the same room Dimitri and I received our Molnija's for the first time we were attacked. "Rose?" I turned around to the familiar voice.

"Hey, Alberta." I walked over and gave her a quick hug.

"What are you doing here?"

"Fighting" Her eyes widened but she didn't say anything other than nod. "How are things looking?" Alberta was the head guardian on campus if anyone had any information it would be her.

"There's movement in the area, but so far nothing has approached the wards. We've pulled everyone inside them now. We can't risk having Guardians outside them before the fight."

"Good idea." I agreed.

Hans got everyone's attention. "Firstly, I want to thank you all for agreeing to fight with us. I commend your bravery. No one has heard of an attack of this magnitude before. We have several things in place for the attack. An alarm will sound when the outside wards are broken, another will follow when Strigoi have crossed over onto campus. Most of you will be given an area to protect, you will work in pairs. The rest will go where the most Strigoi are. St Vladimir's Guardians will fight along with us, Princess Mazur" He pointed in my direction. "Has come up with an idea to have all novices over the age of 16 who agree, will guard the students. This will give us higher numbers. She has also suggested that an additional layer of wards be put up inside the school to protect students. When the first alarm is sounded, St Vladimir's Guardians will escort all students into either the assembly hall on the lower campus or the cafeteria here on the higher campus which both now have their own wards. You will go straight to your positions and wait for the second alarm. Any questions?"

One Guardian I didn't recognise stepped forward. "Forgive me Princess, but shouldn't you be at Court away from the attack?" He asked me with a look like he was scolding me.

"No, I am going to fight with you." I expected people to disagree with me. There were a few gasps around the room.

Alberta stepped forward. "Princess Mazur, attended St Vladimir's. She is an experienced fighter and we are lucky to have her here." She defended me with a final tone in her voice. No one objected. Alberta had never personally seen me fight since she had been my father's Guardian. The woman was either lying or she had a lot of faith in me.

After that Han's read out each individuals name and assigned them their mission. It was either an area to guard around campus or 'movement' as he called the Guardians that would follow the biggest fight. I heard Mason get assigned to the movement group. When they were finished everyone started to leave, I hung back with the guys, Alberta and Hans. "Princess"

"It's Rose, please." I told Hans.

He nodded. "The choice is yours as to where you are assigned."

I tried not to frown at the special treatment. "Do you have all areas of the campus covered?" He nodded. "Well than, we will circulate to where more help is needed."

"As you wish. I can assign you another Guardian."

"No." I gave him a look. "I am not the priority here, these students are. I have my own protection."

Dimitri and I were given his old room to stay in. I quickly changed from my office clothes into my black jeans, boots, a plain white t-shirt and my black leather jacket. My stake was safely inside my pocket and another one was slipped into the side of my boot. "I need to head to the feeders and we both could do with some food." Dimitri smiled and gave me a kiss before we headed out to do just that. It was just after 10PM in Montana, when Dimitri and I walked towards the cafeteria and an alarm sounded. I froze for a second, Dimitri already had his stake out. I grabbed mine out of my pocket and watched as all the students on the upper campus were ushered into the cafeteria. I couldn't believe it was happening so soon. He hadn't even been here an hour. I was glad I just fed, I was going to need it. We waited in the middle of campus, Eddie and Mason joined us after a minute.

Dimitri was in leader mode. "We wait here for any signs of fighting and follow the noise. Eddie, you and Mason stick together. You've both fought together for years and I will stay with Roza." We all silently agreed and spaced out a bit in the large court yard. The second alarm rang about 10 minutes after the first. They were here.

"Guys!" I yelled. "This way!" I pointed towards the East where I could hear the fighting begin. They ran in my direction and together we moved towards battle.

We ran toward the track. There were 10 Guardians and about 20 Strigoi in this area. None of us hesitated. I lit up the heads of two Strigoi and Dimitri and I plunged our stake's into their hearts while they were distracted. Three Strigoi surrounded a Guardian woman who was already injured. I sent out a wave of air and knocked two of the Strigoi into their own group. Two Strigoi went after Dimitri and one ran towards me. I ducked as he sent a fly kick towards my head and slashed my stake across his chest. He howled in pain and sent a punch towards me. I fought with him for a minute before another Strigoi joined in. I managed to handle them both for a while longer until I realised neither of us were getting the upper hand.

I threw two fireballs out, managed to get one in the face and the other in the chest. I staked the one that couldn't see while the other tried to pat out the fire on his chest. I sent the fire up and surrounded his head. He screamed and started throwing wild punches my way. He managed to get me once on my shoulder that made me stumble for a moment before I kicked out his legs from under him and sent the stake into his heart. I shot out more flames to the remaining Strigoi and started staking. I looked up at Dimitri to see him finish off the last Strigoi, two of the Guardians were dead but we couldn't spare them a glance as we heard screams towards the cafeteria. The four of us ran towards it, leaving the other Guardian's to guard the track.

About 5 Guardians and a 8 novices were in a fight they were losing quickly against 30 Strigoi that were trying to break into the cafeteria. I let the guys run forward while I focused on my magic and set alight 10 of them. Dimitri, Eddie and Mason took them out one by one. I joined in and our numbers quickly evened up. A Strigoi managed to take down a novice and pin him. I ran over and thrust my stake into his heart through his back and helped push him away. I recognised the novice he was in the year below me while I was here. He had a broken ankle and couldn't walk. I quickly healed it enough that he could get up and dragged him into the cafeteria.

Everyone inside was looking at me with wide eyes. "Everyone stay back from the doors and windows!" I yelled before ducking back outside. I jumped into the fight again. Dimitri and I teamed up taking down one Strigoi after the other. When there was no more Strigoi in the immediate area we looked around. Bodies were everywhere both on our side and there's.

"We need to make our way around, and see if anyone needs help." Eddie suggested.

"Let's head to the lower campus." Mason said. We agreed and headed in that direction taking out a couple of Strigoi as we went.

I watched in horror across a large field as a Strigoi got the upper hand on Alberta. I screamed and threw out everything I could in a split second. Fire shot from my hands and straight across the field hitting the Strigoi just before it sunk it's fangs into her neck. He lit up completely, his whole body ignited into flames. Alberta pushed him off quickly and watched in awe as he burned to a crisp. She looked up and our eyes me, she gave me a grateful look before jumping into another fight. We fought for another half hour until there wasn't a Strigoi in sight.

We were all seriously bruised and bleeding by the end but lucky to still be alive. I ran to Dimitri and jumped into his arms giving him a fierce kiss that he returned quickly. "Are you alright Milaya?" He asked after pulling back but not letting me go.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Are you injured badly?" We all had various cuts and bruises but I couldn't see any visible signs on injuries on him.

"I think I've got a broken collarbone." Without further thought my hand that was already over the area healing it. He sighed in relief and gave me a smile. "Thank you Roza, I love you"

"I love you too Comrade."

I stepped back to look over Mason and Eddie. I had enough adrenaline in me to heal some more before I would need blood so we ran towards the infirmary. The halls were filled with injured Guardians and Novices. I spotted Alberta and ran in her direction. "Rose! Thank god you're ok."

"I'm alright Alberta, how did we go?"

"We managed to keep them away from the students. Han's is out doing a round on the numbers of our dead." I nodded and headed down the hall until I spotted Dr Olendzki.

"Rose?" She asked when she seen me.

"Hey Doc, I need you to point me in the direction of the worst of the injured." She gave me an odd look while she stitched up a Guardian's cut on her forehead. "Just trust me Doc."

She nodded. "Down this hall and take a right. Those rooms are getting extra attention for the seriously injured patients." I thanked her and Dimitri and I followed her directions.

The sight before me was awful, there was so much blood on most of the injured. I ran to the closest and assessed his injuries. He had a few broken ribs and a broken jaw as well a large cut down his right leg. I healed them all and moved around the room healing as I went until Dimitri had to support my weight because I couldn't stand any longer. "Hang in there Roza. I'm getting you a feeder." Dimitri picked me up bridal style and I fought the darkness as much as possible. We made it to a room with some human's inside waiting. Dimitri sat me down on one of the beds and brought a human forward.

I drank until he was losing too much and I released him from my hold. I was still a bit disorientated but I felt a lot better than I had before. "I think I need more Dimitri" He nodded and another human walked forward happily. I felt almost completely back to normal after that, besides my muscles aching and the bruises and cuts I was back to normal health. We walked out of the room and noticed straight away that besides the badly injured, doctors and nurses everyone else had left. We left the infirmary and followed the other Guardians that were heading towards Headquarters.

Kirova walked out of the room as we were walking in. Our eyes locked for a long moment before she stepped forward and grabbed one of my hands. "Thank you for coming back Rose." I nodded, she gave me a smile and left.

Alberta and Hans had their heads together in the corner of the room when we walked in. "What's going on?" Alberta looked up with a sad look on her face. "Alberta? What is it?"

"We aren't the only attack."

My eyes widened. "Where?"

She gave me a grim look. "Royal Court."

 **More bad news...**

 **I don't own anything other than the plot of The Magic Within.**

 **I'm thrilled with all of the reviews I'm getting from you all. You don't know how much I appreciate it!**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Get ready for one intense chapter!**

 **Chapter 21 - Back To Court**

 _"Alberta? What is it?"_

 _"We aren't the only attack."_

 _My eyes widened. "Where?"_

 _She gave me a grim look. "Royal Court."_

Han's told me what was going on. "The Guardian's that gathered the intel on this attack, just found out about another. If we thought 80 was a large number it's nothing on the 200 they have getting ready." My jaw dropped and Dimitri stiffened beside me. I could feel my hands start to shake as I thought about Lissa at Court while it was attacked. Sparky better be taking good care of her.

"When are they attacking?" Dimitri asked him.

"As soon as the sun goes down today."

"Shit" I cursed "We need to leave now!"

"Agreed" Han's said.

We grabbed whoever could still fight and headed for the plane. I grabbed my phone out before take-off and called Lissa. "Rose?"

"Lissa, did you hear about the attack?"

"Yeah, they're telling us all to be prepared. Are you ok Rose? I heard about St Vlad's."

"I'm fine Lissa. I need you to listen to me very carefully ok?"

"Ok"

"Before the sun goes down tomorrow I need you to get your mum, dad, Mia and Christian and drive to my house. Break a window to get in. Once your inside head straight for my parents old room. There's a trap door under the bed. It's a panic room. Their won't be enough room for anyone else. Stay there until I come and get you or after sunrise. Whatever comes first. Can you do that for me Liss?"

"Yes Rose"

"Thanks Lissa."

"Will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine, as long as I know your safe. I've got to go, were about to fly to Court. I love you Lissa."

"I love you too Rose."

I sighed and relaxed back into my seat just as the plane took off. "She'll be ok, love." Dimitri whispered in my ear.

"I hope so." With two hours before landing Han's called for everyone's attention. "I know everyone is already tired and sore. But we need to hold out for a while longer. We will have cars ready at the airport for us. Just like at the academy, stay in pairs. Moroi have been split up and are being guarded in large areas. The first car" he point to four people in front of him. "you are to head for Moroi Quarters. The second" he pointed to another four "go to Headquarters." This went on while he assigned each group an area where the Moroi were hiding until he finished on Dimitri, Mason, Eddie and I. You're the last car and are going to Parliament. You know the building better than the rest of us." I nodded. "Be careful out there." With that he sat back down.

When we came into landing the sun had just gone done. I reached across Dimitri and pulled him in for a kiss. He held me tight against him. "I love you Roza."

"I love you too Dimitri. Stay safe."

"You too, my love."

We filed out of the plane and ran straight for the vehicles. The streets of Court were eerily quiet. Guardians were running in different directions but we could see no Strigoi. Our row of cars split off one by one as they made their way towards their posts. "Be careful out there Rosie" Mason said grabbing onto my hand that was shaking in my lap.

"You too Mase." Mason held my hand tightly in his until we all caught site of Parliament over the buildings in front of us. My stake was clutched tightly in my hand as Dimitri pulled over about 50 meters away and we all got out.

We could all hear fighting off in the distance, but there wasn't a person in sight around Parliament. "Where are they all?" Mason asked.

"Maybe they haven't got passed the Court Guardians." Eddie suggested.

"Guys be quiet for a minute." I told them and listened to hushed voices. I had slightly better hearing the Dhampir's.

"Roza, what is it?" I could hear the voices and started following the sounds, the guys followed me glancing around.

We made it to the front steps of Parliament before I stopped. "Everyone's inside." I whispered to them. We walked up the stairs close together and through the doors.

The usually busy building was completely empty. We made our way through the halls, I followed the soft whispers I could hear. Until we ended up at the entrance to the ballroom. Guardian's stood by the door, they tensed when they spotted us then relaxed. "Princess Mazur" One of them stepped forward.

"Hey, how is everyone?"

"Good, Princess. We have most of the royal families inside. No Strigoi have got through this far yet. You should head inside."

I turned to the guys. "What do you want to do? Wait it out in here or go help out?" Dimitri looked like he would be happy with whatever I decided while Mason and Eddie were giving me looks that said 'what do you think' with a lot of sarcasm.

I chuckled before turning back to the Guardian. "Thanks for the offer, but we'd prefer it out here." We turned back around and headed for the exit. "What's the plan?" I asked Dimitri.

"Follow the noise." I smiled and we did exactly that.

We ran down a couple of streets towards the fence when we came across a fight. Three Guardians were fighting 5 Strigoi. Dimitri ran up silently towards the closest one and staked him while he was fighting one of the Guardians. I set the other Strigoi on fire and everyone was quick in killing them before we were off again. We killed about 30 Strigoi within the next half hour before I stopped running.

"Rose, what is it?" Mason asked looking around like I was. "This isn't right." I muttered looking around at the fence.

Dimitri's eye caught mine. "Something's wrong." He said, you could hear the shock and worry in his voice. He realised the same thing I had. Without a second glance we both took off at a sprint in the opposite direction.

Eddie and Mason ran after us. We managed to make it back into the centre of Court within 5 minutes to find chaos. Strigoi were everywhere. Guardians were in a serious battle but they were outnumbered at least 2 to 1. We jumped into the fight without a second thought.

The next time I looked up to get my barring's we were fighting on the steps of Parliament. We must have fought for around 40 minutes when I noticed Strigoi were escaping inside quickly. "Eddie, Mason. You stay here!" I got a quick nod from them both before Dimitri and I ran in the direction of the ballroom.

The Guardian that I had spoken to earlier lay on the floor dead in between the open doors of the ballroom. All I could think about was all the people inside that room, if the Guardians were down they were like sitting ducks. I held onto the magic bubbling under the surface as we ran inside. It was like a horror scene in a movie people were screaming, blood and bodies lay on the floor. The air around me swirled and the dash of heat from my palms swept through me. I was seeing red. I let the magic consume me for the second time ever. Air whipped around throwing Strigoi back away from their victim's. "Everyone get back!" Dimitri yelled.

We managed to create a barrier between the group of Strigoi, I'd say there was about 30 of them in the room and everyone inside at least a hundred of us, with just Dimitri and I on the front lines. "Well well well, what do we have here?" A cold familiar voice said through the middle of the Strigoi. They Strigoi paused their fight and let the man through and out walked Prince Victor Dashkov and Natalie Dashkov both Strigoi.

I gasped along with many people behind me. Victor's disease had taken a toll on him but it seemed Immortality had given him back his youth. He's usual fraying body now stood tall and deadly bright red rings around his eyes. "Rosemarie, how lovely to see you again." My eyes narrowed into slits, the magic still had a hold of me but I managed to keep it still, for now.

"The feeling's not mutual Victor." Apparently either something went terribly wrong at the hospital they were at or they were not the people I thought they were.

He chuckled a deadly laugh. "I would say you haven't changed, but you clearly have Rosemarie. Natalie told me about the changes in the last few months of school."

"Cut the chit chat, you're clearly not here to find out how I've been lately." I tried to keep the horror off my face as Natalie hissed at me. I had never seen a Strigoi I knew before, let alone one that I had been friends with for years.

"Argh, that is only half true." What? He must of seen my shocked face because he continued. "I know about you Rosemarie. I know _all_ about you. Did you really think no one would find out sooner or later?" I had a strong feeling I knew exactly what he was talking about but I chose not to acknowledge it.

"Find what out?"

"Don't play dumb!" he yelled making a few people behind me cower. "Rosemarie, you are talented. You have a gift to heal. I wanted to use your gift to heal my disease, but you proved hard to capture. Thanks to your magic and Belikov here." He pointed to Dimitri, who was standing still but looking lethal as he watched for any sudden movements on their side. "I should have been King! If I wasn't ill, I would have been but then Tatiana announced you as her successor and my plan was thrown out the window before I could get to you."

"The Psi Hounds" I whispered but his Strigoi hearing picked up on my words.

"That's correct, the Psi Hounds had orders to attack and bring you back to me. That was when I found out that Spirit wasn't the only magic you specialised in. I kept a close eye on you after that, do you know why you can do all of that magic Rosemarie?" My lips were set in a thin line and I refused to reply to him so he continued instead.

"I searched high and low for answers but didn't find anything conclusive myself, until after the Strigoi attacked you just outside of Baia. I may have given her your location and she kept an eye on you. I had one of my Guardians test your blood from the scene. It's in your genetics Rosemarie, both of your parents were gifted when it came to magic. Your father was one of the best fire users ever seen and your mother specialized in both air and earth. It was not widely known but I found out from her records after their deaths. They passed on their gifts to you Rose, and then some. You are the first Moroi in history to specialize in all 5 elements. Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit." It was a shock to my system to find out about my mother like that.

I guess it wouldn't be that unusual for two talented Moroi to have a talented child in magic. A small part of me sighed in relief that I was in love with a Dhampir rather than a Moroi. I had struggled a lot these last few years because of my gifts, I wasn't sure that was something I wanted to pass onto my children. But if Dimitri and I decided to have children one day they would be Dhampir like Dimitri.

"Anyway, after you started your training I had no other choice, if I was still to lead I would have to take drastic measure's so Natalie and I became Strigoi. Now I plan on simply taking the throne, instead of waiting for it to be given to me. I'll rule or world and when the times right, I'll rule over the humans too."

"You're insane" I laughed not being able to keep my mouth shut any longer. "Seriously, did all that medication the doctor's have you on have bad side efforts? Maybe something like mental breakdown, insanity, hallucinations or just plain stupidity?"

He snarled at me. "Watch it Rosemarie. Don't make me angry."

"You managed to get all these Strigoi in here without having to go through all of the Guardian's didn't you? You're responsible for the attack at St Vladimir's. It was a distraction."

He gave me a wicked smile. "Very smart Rosemarie. When you're as observant as I am you pick up things, like underground escape routes that lead outside of the wards." I was getting seriously over him saying my full name. I was ready to end all conversation.

The magic around me started swirling again waiting for my command. "I might have been hard to catch before but that has nothing on what I can do now. It's a shame you've been away all this time, because it looks like you forgot to be so _observant_. You made a serious mistake in underestimating my abilities Viktor. This conversation is over!" My voice was menacing. I raised my arms and fire flew out from my hand creating a line behind Dimitri and I that went from wall to wall but stayed perfectly under my control. The Moroi behind me leapt away in surprise. The doors to the ballroom behind the Strigoi slammed shut with the wind I blew in.

"Ready Comrade?"

"When you are love." I smiled I knew without a doubt if any other person stood beside me right now they would be terrified. Not Dimitri though, he had complete faith in me and I in him. We were deadly apart, but together… There was no stopping us.

All at once every Strigoi in the room were thrown together and held that way with the amount of air I was sending their way. Their bodies lit up with fire, a huge orange blaze engulfed the room. Dimitri and I ran forward staking left and right. I refused to look into the faces in case one of them was Natalie, I knew I would hesitate to kill her. We staked one after the other after the other. Dimitri and I kept a close eye on one another the whole time, I didn't want to burn him on accident and neither of us wanted any Strigoi escaping my hold.

With my magic keeping them in place and burning simultaneously they were no match for either of us. When they were all dead, I let the fire and air go. I stumbled slightly. My magic was wearing out once again. We surveyed the room, Moroi were staring wide eyed at what happened. I could still hear the fighting happening outside. I knew if I stopped now I wouldn't be able to do much else, my body was weak and so was my magic. But I had just enough for one more fight.

"If any of you have any hope of making it through the night, then I suggest you get off your asses and help those Guardian's outside that are dying trying to protect you while you cower away in here!" I yelled, anger boiled as I thought about all the Guardian's I had seen die before my eyes today. I hoped that Eddie and Mason were still going strong.

A man stepped forward that I recognised as Prince Nathan Ivashkov, Adrian's father. "We cannot fight! What do you suppose we do, huh?" He scowled at me. It took everything in me to resist from setting him on that fire in that moment.

"Magic you _idiot_! You can all do it, Dhampir and Moroi used to fight alongside each other once, until Moroi started to cower and hide behind them. Ever wonder why Strigoi attacks are so much more common than ever before? Get off your stuck up Royal asses!" Nathan glared at me he opened his mouth to retort when a voice rang through the room from the back.

"Enough!" Tatiana walked forward. Nathan looked happy as he gave me a smug look. "The Princess is right!" His smug look dropped. "I am going out there to fight, if anyone else has the balls to join us. Please do!" I cannot believe the queen just said 'balls'. She turned to me and gave me a smile that said she knew exactly what I was thinking. "After you Rose."

Adrian surprisingly stepped forward next and stood beside his Aunt. He gave me a nod. I didn't have the time to be surprised but by the look he was giving me, he knew. This whole time he had known my secrets. He was just waiting for this moment. With that we ran from the room, at first I could only hear Dimitri, Tatiana and Adrian behind me but than other footsteps joined in.

The chaos outside hadn't changed much other than our numbers had dropped. I lit up the heads of a bunch and started fighting others. Everything was taking a toll on my body. I just kept pushing myself Dimitri's voice replayed over and over again in my head. _Keep fighting Rose. If you let exhaustion take over your mind, your body will give out._ It was something he had drilled into me since we started my magic training. I fought more without the use of magic to stay conscious for as long as possible. I could see Tatiana from the corner of my eye. Pushing air into the Strigoi suffocating them while a Guardian staked them. Soon more Moroi came outside and joined in following Tatiana's lead and getting into pairs to fight.

I was stupid… I made a stupid move… I watched the Moroi fighting without watching my back.

A fist slammed into the side of my head, harder than anything I had ever felt before. I held in a scream as the pain radiated through my body and I took another hit to the stomach making me drop to the ground in a heap. Hands grabbed my shoulders and lifted me into the air. I could feel the breath of the Strigoi that had hold on me over my neck as his fangs sunk into my neck.

I screamed at the pain before the endorphin's took over and I was in pure bliss. I was in a peaceful place, I watched the world around me. Everyone's quick movements slowed down as my blood drained. There was a man in front of me he looked worried. Like really worried. His face seemed familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before. "Roza!" He was yelling in my direction. Was that my name? He was making his way toward me, his eyes never left mine as two hands gripped either side of his brown hair. Brown hair and brown eyes. Dimitri? I gasped as I realised what was happening. A Strigoi was drinking from me. Dimitri shoved his stake forward and into the Strigoi that was drinking for me. I was released at the same moment the hands around Dimitri's head twisted and I heard a sickening crack before Dimitri fell to the ground lifeless.

I screamed, louder than I ever had as I watched the love of my life die before my eyes. My vision blurred and I started shaking, I think it was me. No the ground was shaking. Air whipped around my face. Fire and surprisingly water emerged from each of my hands. I didn't think about what I did next, it was instinct I just sent all of my magic out. I was still screaming as the magic pulsed out from me. All of a sudden it was deadly quiet apart from my screams. I crawled over to my love.

"Dimitri!" I screamed shaking him. "Wake up! Please, please, please don't leave me Comrade." Tears poured out from my eyes as I cradled his head in my hands. So many thoughts were going through my head. All our kisses, the times we fought beside one another, how happy he was when his family welcomed me with open arms, the night Dimitri told me he loved me, the first night we made love together all those glances across the room when our eyes would meet and he'd tell me something with only his eyes speaking. I can't let him, die. I wouldn't. He was going to live. Please don't fail me, please. I held him in my lap while I sent everything I had into him. I fuelled the magic with all my memories of us together, all the love I had for him. A blinding light emerged from my palms that were against Dimitri's cheeks. I had to close my eyes but I just kept sending him everything I had.

My body started to slump. Not yet Rose! Hang in there a bit longer. I felt the magic drain, all of it, there was nothing left. The light dimed and slowly faded from my hands. My eyelids closed over but I forced them to open again. I wasn't going to let the darkness take hold of me. The light disappeared until all that was left was Dimitri in my hands. He hadn't moved. My heart sunk and tore in two. I had failed. Just like with my parents, I failed. "Dimitri" My voice was barely a whisper. "I love you." I knew I was about to pass out. My eyes ran over his handsome face and I tried to remember every inch of it. "I love you Comrade." I leaned down and kissed him with all the strength I had left. I felt movement but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I pulled back and watched closely as Dimitri's brown eyes fluttered and then he focused at me.

I gasped.

"Roza?"

His voice, his sweet calming voice wrapped around the word. I tried to say something back, tell him I love him, anything, but no words came out of my mouth. My eyes held his for as long as possible before my eyes fluttered closed and there was nothing but darkness.

 **God I hate Viktor. He's always so calm and cocky. It's really annoying.**

 **What did you guys think about that? I know a few of you guessed that Dimitri was going to die.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	22. Chapter 22

**As always you guys are amazing!**

 **Chapter 22 - Darkness**

I don't know how long I laid there in the darkness but it felt like a long time. I tried to remember how I got here but it was fuzzy, extremely fuzzy. I remember being at St Vlad's for something. Training maybe? I remember fighting. Maybe Dimitri wanted me to do some training there? No that can't be right, I was using my magic out in the open. I wouldn't have used me magic like that unless... the _attack_! How could I have forgotten that? St Vlad's all the Strigoi and then _Court_. I remembered everyone was hiding in the ballroom. Victor and Natalie! Shit. And after that Tatiana fighting with us along with other Moroi. I was stupid so stupid I took my eyes off the fight and I had almost died. Maybe I was dead? But Dimitri, he saved me. Oh my god. Dimitri died. A Strigoi had snapped his neck right before my eyes.

My Russian God that I loved more than anything. He died, I can remember his lifeless face in my hands. His eyes glazed over and there was no life in them anymore. But then the light, my... my magic! I thought he was dead but he focused his eyes. I remember he said my name and that was it, darkness. Did I die? Is that what this is? Did I use up so much magic trying to save Dimitri that I died? I would be happy if that were the case. He deserved to live his life. He had a family that adored him and he was a god among Guardian's. They would give him a new charge, he would have no trouble finding one.

But then why did my body ache so much. My body? I didn't think ghosts had bodies, not that I'd met any ghosts but still. And the pain... That isn't how people described death. Not in the books I've read and the movies I've watched. Maybe they had it wrong. Or maybe I wasn't dead. If I wasn't dead then where the hell was I? I could hear noise coming from somewhere far away. I wanted to ran towards it, but my body wasn't listening. My muscles were too sore to move. Come on, I didn't do all that running with Dimitri and Eddie for nothing.

Maybe I could yell out for help. I tried, nothing came out of my mouth. God this was frustrating. How sore did I have to be for my mouth to not even work? The voices were getting louder, but I couldn't make out the words. I could hear footsteps like people were walking back and forth not far away and then the sound would disappear as they got further away. I could hear a rustling every minute to my left. Like paper. The person was close by. I tried to open my mouth and let them know I was here but nothing came out. I exhaled loudly but it came out silent I could feel anxiety creeping its way into me as I laid there in the darkness. When I breathed back in, I caught a scent. It was cologne. Men's cologne. The scent was familiar, very familiar. Dimitri. He was here, somewhere to my left.

Another rustle of papers. Like someone was turning pages of a book. Dimitri, he was near me and reading. I could feel the excitement coursing through my veins as I realised maybe I really wasn't dead. _Dimitri!_ Come on mouth start working. _Dimitri!_ I screamed in my head with frustration. I could hear Dimitri's breath hitch. Did I move something? _Dimitri_! I screamed again.

"Roza?" He whispered, I could hear him moving until he was next to me.

 _Dimitri, I love you._ I tried to say it but the words just wouldn't come out.

"I love you too Roza" I felt him take hold of my hand but I couldn't squeeze it back. Wait he could hear me? "Yes, I can hear you love." I didn't understand I knew my mouth wasn't working. None of my body was working, how the hell could he hear me?

"I don't know Roza, it's like I can hear you in my head."

 _ **That makes no sense Comrade**_ **.** I could hear him chuckle, god I missed that sound. His chuckle turned into a laugh, I could feel my body relax just listening to it. _**What's going on Dimitri? Why can't I move?**_

I felt Dimitri kiss my forehead softly. "You've been in a coma."

 _ **What?! How long?**_

 _"_ Ten days now, love." Ten DAYS? F**k me. "Roza" He berated me.

 _ **Sorry, this is going to take some time to get used to. So does that mean I'm still in a coma**_ **?**

"I'm not sure. I'm going to get the doctor."

 _ **NO! please don't leave me!**_ An image of Dimitri dead in my arms filled my mind. He cursed in Russian from beside me.

 _ **What's wrong?**_

"I... I think were bonded Roza. I can hear your thoughts, and you just started panicking when you remembered me dying. I felt your panic."

 _ **Bonded?**_

"Yes, there's stories about bonds between two people, when one of them dies and is brought back to life. Like I did, you saved me Roza. I don't know how you did it. No one does, but you did and now I believe were bonded."

 _ **I'm so confused! Why can't I just wake up and we can talk without you reading my mind?**_

"I'm sorry love, I don't mean to."

 _ **Don't be sorry Comrade, I don't mind. I would just really like to wake up now.**_

"Let me just call in the nurse. I'll be right back, I promise."

 _ **Ok, hurry!**_

"I will love" He kissed me on the forehead again before I heard his footsteps run in what I hoped was the direction of the nearest nurse. Less than a minute later I heard Dimitri re-enter and take hold of my hand. I could hear another set of footsteps approaching the room.

 _ **Should anyone know about the bond?**_

"Maybe we should just keep it between us, for now." He whispered in my ear.

 _ **That's fine with me, I don't want anyone looking at us like some sort of science experiment.**_ He squeezed me hand in reply but I felt him tense from my words.

I could hear the nurse on my right side. "How is she?" The woman asked.

"She's showing signs of waking up." Dimitri replied.

"Really? Hmm.. I'll have a look." I felt a nailed finger wrap around my wrist for a moment and silence followed. After a few boringly silent seconds she let go. I felt my eye lids being lift open and a light was shone in them but I couldn't see anything past it. "Her pupils are reacting to the light." She said softly. Before she grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "Princess, if you can hear me. I want you to try moving one of your fingers I'm holding."

 _ **Is she serious?**_ Dimitri squeezed my hand again. _**Ok, ok, I'll try.**_ I focused hard on the hand she was holding. Come on, move! Come on Rose! It twitched, thank god.

"Very good Princess. My name's Tori, I'm your nurse. You're in hospital at Court. You've been a coma for ten days. The signs of movement you are showing are good. You'll wake up soon. I'll leave you in the hands of Guardian Belikov. Press that button when she wakes up, it shouldn't be long now." With that her footsteps retreated from the room.

 _ **Well that's good news.**_

"Yes it is. I've missed you."

 _ **Same here Comrade. What ended up happening with the fight**_ **?**

"We don't have to talk about that right now, just focus on waking up. We can talk then." I was reluctant to agree, but I did. "Thank you Roza."

We fell into a comfortable silence then as I focused on moving more of my body. After about half hour I was able to move my hands enough to lace my fingers with Dimitri. It was still painful but bearable. Another 15 minutes and my eyes opened. I blinked a few times trying to suppress the fogginess in them until I was staring up at the beautiful chocolate brown eyes I loved. He gave me a blinding smile, and then reading my thoughts his smile turned into a chuckle. _**That's going to suck.**_

"Maybe this bond won't be so bad after all." He gave me a cheeky grin.

 _ **No fair Comrade. I won't even be able to fantasise about you anymore without you knowing exactly what I'm thinking.**_

His eyes darkened considerably. "You fantasise about me?" His voice was huskier than normal.

 _ **Regularly, in fact...**_ His lips were on mine 5 seconds later, in a fierce kiss. I managed to kiss him back. _**Maybe this won't be so bad after all.**_

He pulled back to look into my eyes _._ "What am I going to do with you Roza?" He growled at my assault of mental images of my fantasies. I smiled up and thought about all the things he could do to me. He groaned loudly or maybe it was a moan.

I opened my mouth to finally speak out loud. "You walked straight into that one Comrade."

"Mmm, I guess I did."

An hour later the nurses and a doctor had come in and gone over my body to make sure I had my full movement back and was responding to the pain medication they had me on and we were left alone. "How's Lissa?" I asked.

"She's fine, she did as you told her too. After you saved me and I got you here to the hospital I sent Eddie and Mason to go get them out."

"So the guys were ok?"

He nodded. "Yeah, only minor cuts and some bruising. They did really well."

"How many did we lose?"

"32 Guardians and 28 Moroi."

My eyes widened. "I was expecting more. The Guardian's must have done really well." By the time I passed out there were still Strigoi as far as I could see.

Dimitri had a thoughtful look for a minute before he spoke. "It wasn't the Guardians the killed the rest of the Strigoi."

"The Moroi did it?" Even I found that hard to believe.

"No, well they helped out at first. But something happened."

"Dimitri your making no sense."

He leant over the side of my bed and took my head in his hands and gazed into my eyes. "You killed them. When I woke up and you passed out, everyone was just standing there frozen looking around. Queen Ivashkov said when you seen that I died, something happened with your magic and it just burst out of you and killed every Strigoi within a mile. The rest fled when they noticed what happened. You did it Roza, you saved everyone at Court." My mouth hung open, I would have said he was insane but I could see in his eyes that he was telling me truth.

"I... I killed them all?"

He nodded and gave me a small smile. "No one can explain what happened but everyone knows it was you. Some of the Moroi demanded that they have you tested to find out about your magic but neither the Queen or I would let anyone near you. The Queen ordered that no one was to come near you except for me and the doctors while you recovered."

"They're going to think I'm a freak." I said pulling my head in my hands.

"Roza. Roza look at me" I lifted my head up.

"Apart from some of the Royals everyone is extremely grateful for what you did. Everything about you fighting at St Vladimir's and Court got out and everyone seen you and I kill the Strigoi inside the ballroom. There's talk of training Moroi in schools to not only learn to fight but also to use their magic to kill Strigoi. But they can't do anything without your vote. You should see Christian, he's started a group here at Court for anyone that wants to learn how to use magic against Strigoi. He's furious he couldn't join in during the fight but he didn't want to leave Lissa so he's trying to make up for it now. You have so many people backing up your ideas, love. You've done it Roza, Moroi and Dhampir are going to fight together. You not only saved so many lives but you made your dream a reality. I'm so proud of you." Tears fell from my eyes.

I couldn't believe it, I did it. I've worked hard for years since my father started training me as a child. I followed his beliefs and I've made his dreams a reality. My mind was going over everything in our world that would change because of this. Not only all the lives this would save but a better relationship between Dhampir and Moroi. Maybe them fighting together could help Moroi respect Dhampir more. And with Moroi fighting it wouldn't be so bad for Dhampir that wanted to have families instead of training to be Guardian's, they wouldn't be shunned by our society. Dimitri's smile grew as he listened to everything I was imagining. "Could that be possible?" I whispered to him.

"Love, it's already started. They need your vote, Tatiana told me the vote is 50/50 on the Council. You have the deciding vote. If you choose to vote 'for' - training classes in all our schools will start, for any Moroi that wish to fight and in communities like Court for the adults."

"Well than what are we still doing here? I need to go vote!"

"You're not going anywhere just yet." He said pulling me back down, easily.

I was too sore to get away. "Dimitri! I've got to do this, please!" I begged him.

"I know you do love, but the sun's just risen. Everyone is in bed, get some rest and when the sun goes down I promise to get you to Parliament." I looked out the window and sure enough the sun was just rising over the horizon.

"You promise?"

"Yes, love. Now lay back down. I'll be right here while you sleep and when you wake up, I'll help you make your escape." I smiled imagining Dimitri covered in black looking like he was a spy trying to escape the building with me in tow. He laughed and kissed me.

 **Thoughts about our shadow kissed Russian?**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 - Council Vote**

I groaned as I woke up and opened my eyes to see Dimitri watching me from his seat. "Good morning Roza."

"Mornin Comrade. Can we go now?"

He laughed. "Soon, Roza"

"But you said.." My whinging was but off by a loud squeal at the door. I turned to see a flash of blonde before I was getting squeezed to death. "Liss.. Can't.. Breathe"

"Oh!" She yelled pulling back. "I'm so sorry!"

I laughed "It's alright, Liss. How are you?"

"I'm fine Rose! How are you feeling? You gave us all a scare when you wouldn't wake up. Poor Dimitri freaked out." I looked over to him. He had an embarrassed look on his face that made me laugh.

"I'm alright. I just want to get out of here but Dimitri won't let me."

"He was waiting for me to bring you this, silly." Lissa said pulling a bag up onto my hospital bed. "You can't go to the Council meeting in a Hospital gown Rose."

"Oh, right" I laughed.

"Go shower and get dressed." She helped me out of bed and made sure I wasn't going to fall over before I walked into the bathroom and did as she said.

Lissa brought in a grey silk top with skinny straps and a pair of high-waisted white wide-leg suit pants that I tucked the top into. After my shower Lissa blow-dried and straightened my hair until it was perfectly straight down to my ass. She put on some minimal make up on me before we left the bathroom to find breakfast for me as well as a feeder. I gave Dimitri a grateful look. I healed what I could quickly than drank my fill.

Dimitri managed to convince the Doctor to let me go, as I was needed at Parliament. _That wasn't what I had in mind why you said 'escape' yesterday._ He smiled and winked at me. My SUV pulled up outside of the hospital and out popped Eddie. He ran over as soon as he seen me and swept me into a hug. "It's good to see you on your feet Rose."

"Thanks Castile. It's good to see you." I climbed into the backseat with my Russian's help.

"Good luck!" Lissa yelled.

"Uhh Lissa. You're coming too." I told her through the open door.

"I'm not allowed in Council meetings Rose."

I smiled and slid over to give her room. "That's true, but you see as the Royal Advisor of the soon-to-be Queen. You are in fact allowed to be at the Council meeting."

Her jaw dropped making me chuckle. "You want me to be your Royal Advisor?"

"Of course! What do you think I would choose one of those snobby Royals over _you_?" She squealed again and jumped into the car to hug me to death once again.

"Thank you Rose! I won't disappoint you."

"You never could." I told her kissing her cheek.

I listened to Lissa talk excitedly the whole way to Parliament. I was glad she agreed to be my advisor. Without her I'd have to resort to the second Royal I trust and I really couldn't imagine Christian and I running things. Dimitri laughed in the front seat, gaining Lissa's and Eddie's attention. _**I think we should tell them**_ _._ He gave me a nod in the mirror. "So there's been some interesting developments since I woke up."

"What kind of developments?" Eddie asked turning around to look at me fully from the passenger seat.

"It seems that when I saved Dimitri that we formed a bond."

Eddie was giving me a puzzled look but Lissa gasped. "You're _bonded_!" I nodded. "Like St Vladimir? He was bonded to his Guardian Anna."

I wasn't sure so Dimitri answered for me, he seemed to know more about it than I did. "Yes, I can read her thoughts and I know what she's feeling, the only thing that it says about St Vladimir that hasn't happened _yet,_ is Anna could be propelled into St Vladimir's head, she could see what he was seeing."

"That's kind of creepy." I told him.

He shrugged. "I guess, we will just have to see if that happens to us or not."

All thoughts of the bond left my mind as Dimitri pulled us up at the steps of Parliament. We climbed out and I realised we were standing in almost the exact spot Dimitri died. Memories of how it happened flooded me and I cringed as I heard his neck snap like it was happening right now. Hands held me and I looked up into Dimitri's eyes. "It's ok Roza, I'm still here. You wouldn't let me leave and I love you even more for it. I'm not going anywhere."

I slowly relaxed until I was back to normal, well for me at least _._ _ **Damn straight I wasn't going to let you leave**_ **.** Dimitri laughed and kissed me.

When he pulled back it was only to look me in the eyes. "I love you Roza. Thank you."

"I love you too Dimitri and thank you for saving me too." He kissed me again before stepping back.

I was so caught up in Dimitri that I didn't realise we had an audience. Moroi and Dhampir stood around watching. I was embarrassed that they had seen us making out, and stood to watch. "Milaya, they aren't looking at you and I. Just you."

 _ **Is that meant to make me feel better Comrade?**_

"It's the first time anyone has seen you since the battle Rose." I didn't understand what he meant but my attention was grabbed by a Moroi woman who looked to be about 28. She was heavily pregnant and walked straight up to me.

"Princess, thank you for what you did. You saved us." She rubbed her large belly when she said this.

I didn't know what to say at that but I tried. "You're welcome. But every Dhampir and Moroi that joined in the fight or kept people safe they saved you, I just helped. I'm not sure that I deserve your thanks."

I could tell she was taking what I said into consideration. "Your right, there is a lot more people to thank than just you. But you deserve it as well." I nodded.

"We need to get inside if you want to get to the meeting Rose before it finishes." Eddie said from behind me.

I gave the woman a smile. "Good luck with your baby, and if you're thinking about names Rose is a good one." I gave her a cheeky smile.

She chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind Princess" She bowed awkwardly with her large belly and walked away. I looked at the faces around me who were smiling. I smiled back before following Eddie inside with Lissa next to me and Dimitri right behind us.

I winked at an open mouthed Lena as we walked straight past my office towards the meeting room. The doors were closed showing that the Council had already commenced. Two Guardian's bowed before opening the doors for us and we walked in.

The meeting room was large with no windows but it was furnished fit for a queen. In the middle of the room was a large round table that every Prince, Princess and the Queen sat at. Queen Tatiana Ivashkov, Princess Rhea Dragomir, Prince Nathan Ivashkov, Princess Pricilla Voda, Prince Aaron Szlesky, Prince Lionel Ozera, Princess Erin Badica, Princess Penelope Lazar, Prince William Conta, Princess Angeline Zekloz, Princess Emily Drozdov and what looked like a new Princess Dashkov after Viktor's death. Guardian's lined the walls waiting for any movement. Eddie and Dimitri quickly took their places and I strode forward toward my seat beside Tatiana. "Queen Ivashkov" Both Lissa and I bowed before taking a seat, she sat on the other side of me next to her mother Rhea. "Rose, how are you feeling? You only woke up yesterday you should still be in hospital" Tatiana whispered into my ear.

"I'm feeling much better." I said before raising my voice. "I heard that you needed my vote, on an important issue." Tatiana gave me a proud look that I was here so soon but she nodded and looked around at the table.

"Yes." She stood up to address the table. "I have put forth an issue that I believe can be repaired. We are losing too many Moroi and Dhampir against Strigoi. They are becoming, much harder to kill and their numbers are growing rapidly as we have seen ourselves. I believe that implementing Moroi Defence Magic Classes and Moroi Physical Training Classes into our schools, will give us strength in fighting Strigoi. These classes will be optional. If Moroi and Dhampir could fight together, Strigoi numbers would drop significantly along with the number of deaths at the hands of Strigoi. Moroi have magic at our disposal and I believe we should have the option of using it to defend ourselves. These classes can also be available in the Courts around the world. You, Princess Mazur have killed many Strigoi to protect yourself and the people you care about. I believe all Moroi should be given the option of following your lead."

She ended her statement with that and sat down. Now it was the defence's turn. I wasn't all that surprised to see Prince Nathan Ivashkov, the Queen's nephew and Adrian's father stand to speak. "Dhampir have guarded Moroi since before anyone at this table was born. They have fought against the Strigoi and protected us to keep their species alive. Without us they would be extinct. If that means they have to protect us than that's how it should be. For the last 150 years it has been that way and both species have survived. We do not need to make these changes Queen Ivashkov has suggested. What you are putting forth will change our way of life. It is something that does not need to be changed." With that he sat down.

"Everyone at this table has already voted in this case. Princess Mazur, you have the final vote." Tatiana said formally. Here goes nothing.

I stood up and looked at each Council member to make sure I had their full attention. "Prince Ivashkov, I have a question for you before I cast my vote." His eyes narrowed but he nodded. He had no choice but to agree.

"You stated that Dhampir have guarded Moroi for the last century and a half and without us, Dhampir would be extinct. My question Prince Ivashkov is, if you believe so thoroughly that Dhampir would be extinct without us, where would we be without them? Because I don't believe there would be _any_ Moroi if it weren't for the Dhampir, that we have done everything but _physically force_ them to protect us. We kick them out of our society if they choose to love and have families. Things that Moroi do every single day. We treat them like animals! Where would we be without those men and woman who put their lives on the line every day? They patrol our fences, stay close to us 24/7, learn how to fight since they are toddlers, and die as we cower behind them in our fancy homes and we treat them as low class citizens. Would we be any better without them then they would be without us?" My voice has risen and turned icy on more than one occasion.

Everyone turned towards Nathan who had gone red with anger. Even the Guardian's in the room were watching him to see what he would say. But he didn't answer. He knew I was right and he wasn't willing to contradict what I had said. "We would not be alive without them. Is the answer your looking for." I told him. I took a calming breathe before looking around the table.

"I have trained all my life like Dhampir to fight against the Strigoi, my father taught me everything he knew and then his Guardian's taught me more. With the help of Guardian Dimitri Belikov, Guardian Edison Castile and Guardian Mason Ashford we killed well over 120 Strigoi in under 24 hours, just the 4 of us. I can only imagine what we could do if more Moroi were taught as I was. My vote is for Moroi who deserve to protect their families and the ones they love but more importantly my vote is for the Dhampir lives that have been lost in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones. I am in favour of starting both Magical and Physical Training in our schools and Courts." With that I took my seat.

Everyone was staring at me by the end, even as I sat down finished. My eyes met Dimitri's. _**I love you.**_ His eyes sparkled with the love and pride he had for me in return. I met Lissa's eyes next, a tear escaped one of her eyes that she quickly wiped away. She reached over and squeezed my hand.

I turned to Tatiana who had a blinding smile on her face. I had never seen her look more beautiful than she did in that moment. "Then it is settled. Votes have been counted in favour of this proposal and plans will be made immediately. That is the end to our order of business for today." With that she stood and everyone followed bowing to her as they walked out. Myself, Lissa, Eddie, Dimitri, Tatiana and her Guardians were the only ones to stay in the room. Tatiana surprised me by pulling me into a hug as the doors closed. I was stunned for a moment before relaxing and hugging her. She pulled back but her hands rested on my shoulders. "You did it Rose! I'm so proud of you, your parents would be so proud of you. You have done everything you set out to do, now our world will change back to the way it always should have stayed. You're ready."

I knew I looked confused as to what she meant by being ready. She gave me a wide smile. "You're ready to be our Queen Rose. I have taught you everything I can, now you must step up and find your own way." I was stunned into silence. I had always thought that it would be a couple of years before Tatiana said I was ready. I had only been training for 3 months and she was telling me I was ready.

Was I? Could I do this now? I thought about everything I had learned so far, how closely I watched Tatiana, my mentor. How I had spent every waking moment pushing myself to be a good queen and a good person. She was right, I had to find my own way at some point. No leader would be the same as the last. We all brought something new and different to the job. For a moment I imagined my parents standing behind Tatiana, their arms around one another and they were watching me. Tatiana's hands slipped from my shoulders and she stepped away giving me a better view. Both my parents looked proud and smiled to show their love for me. My mother nodded and my father did the same. My eyes drifted from them to the Dimitri's he was looking at the spot where I imagined seeing my parents, he had a stunned look on his face.

 _ **Comrade?**_

His wide eyes snapped to mine. "I see them too Roza." He said before looking back towards my mother and father. My own eyes widened.

Dad looked towards Dimitri. "Look after my daughter." His voice was the same.

Dimitri walked forward until he was standing beside me. "I will, always." Dimitri said looking straight at me fathers eyes.

"Good. We love you Kiz." He said turning towards me.

"I love you too Old Man." He laughed and tears fell from my eyes.

"We are so proud of you Rose." My mother said her eyes were also shedding tears. "You are ready sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too Mom. I miss you both so much." I was sobbing through my words now.

"Were always with you. _Always_." With that both of them smiled and faded away.

I gasped and Dimitri pulled me into a hug. He whispered soothing Russian words of love and encouragement into my ear until I calmed down. _**Did that really just happen?**_

Dimitri nodded and pulled back to wipe the remaining tears on my cheeks. "Yes, sweetheart." I nodded and took deep breaths to calm myself further.

After a few minutes I looked up and around to Lissa, Tatiana and Eddie who all looked shocked. Lissa looked like she had been crying as much as I had. They had seen everything too. My eyes locked with Tatiana's. "I'm ready."

 **I was originally going to leave it here but decided to add a few chapters for you guys before the Epilogue so we're not done yet! Any questions about Rose having no living family will be answered in the next chapter.**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24 - Three Days**

"How are the plans going?"

Tatiana nodded while looking through a check list Rachel had just handed her. "It looks like everything is in order, the biggest issue was the law that a King or Queen needed to have at least one living family member to receive the throne. Stupid rule if you ask me, but I sorted that out when you were back at St Vlad's with the council. You've completed your Queen trails and training. We've set the coronation ceremony for Friday, just enough time for preparation. Are you ok with that?"

A shiver of nerves went down my spine. Friday, today was _Tuesday_. Three days… three days… _fuck_. My eyes automatically went to Dimitri's who gave me a stern look at my internal swear. **Could have been worse Comrade, I could have said it out loud.** Dimitri's lips twitched in a sort of smile while he stood along the wall of Tatiana's office in the middle of her guards. Soon to be mine. "I guess… that's ok?" I said it more like a question than an answer to her question.

Tatiana smiled amused. "You will be fine Rose. If we put it off any longer than you will have to sit back waiting and the anxiety about all of this will be worse. If we get this done now than you can hit the ground running, so to speak."

I just nodded not really agreeing but not refusing to have it on Friday. "Lena?"

Lena stepped forward with a smile on her face. "Yes Princess Mazur?"

"Fuel my jet and sent it to Baia, Russia. I want two guarded SUV's to take the Belikov's to meet the jet in Russia, make sure they are here before the ceremony." Dimitri's Guardian mask completely dropped which was extremely uncharacteristic in a meeting with Tatiana and a wide gorgeous grin adored his face instead. **We can meet the baby while they are here.** I actually really enjoyed having these little silent conversations with Dimitri across the room. Even if it was one sided, he would just give me a look as the answer. His face and eyes were so easy to read for me, even with his Guardian mask. Right now, his face was showing excitement for the world to see. It had been 4 and a half months since we had seen them all in Baia. He was also telling me he loved me. **I love you too.** He gave me a quick wink before his mask was back on.

"Yes Princess, anything else?" Lena asked.

"I want to send out formal invitation's to Guardian Alberta Petrov, Ellen Kirova, Guardian Stan Alto." Him because I'm going to find it amusing him being there. "Also Guardian Castile and Guardian Belikov will be guests for the coronation not on duty, same goes for Alberta and Stan. Also when the coronation is announced I want the invitation to go out to everyone not just Moroi, to attend."

"Of course Princess."

"Thank you."

"Do you need assistance with anything else Tatiana? If not I'd really like to go home and throw up."

Tatiana head fell back and she laughed loudly. Then she slowly shook her head back and forth trying to regain control. "No Rose, that will be all. Have the next two days off. You've deserved it."

I gave her a smile and nodded. "Thank you." I surprised us both by pulling her into a hug. "Bye."

"Bye Rose, I'll see you on Friday."

I walked back to my office to grab my bag. "If you need me, call my phone."

Lena nodded. "Don't worry, just relax. You need it, Rose."

I rolled my eyes. I had been tense for the last month and a half while I had to complete the trials for the thrown. As Tatiana's chosen successor I just had to complete the tests and I would be Queen. It was a gruelling week that had only just finished the last test the day before yesterday. I was about ready to collapse with all the stress I had been under since I woke up from my coma. I had personally seen to it that training in the academies had begun for Moroi. With Tatiana's and my extra push, we had managed to get experienced Guardian's to train the Moroi in self-defence and the magic teachers to train themselves in offensive magic a fortnight ago. Christian and his Aunt Tasha had actually been a major help in the whole process and had volunteered to help the teachers with the sessions at St Vladimir's.

 **Take me home.**

"Of course love." Dimitri held the door open for me and took my hand with Eddie right behind us as we left the building and headed home.

"Eddie have the next couple of days off, I feel like lounging at home. We should have one night, all of us."

He gave me a smile. "Thank you Rose. Message me what time dinner is, I'll be here."

"No problem."

"Bye guys."

We both said our goodbye's as Eddie left us alone at our front door. I turned to Dimitri. "Do you think your family will want to stay here there's plenty of room otherwise we can organise a couple of hotel rooms for them not far away?"

Dimitri's lips pressed against my forehead and when he pulled back he rested his own forehead against mine. "I think they will love staying here with us, Roza."

I grinned. "I think they will too."

"What do you want for dinner love?"

"Hmm, how about we make homemade pizza together?"

Dimitri's smile was as dazzling as always. "Perfect."

"Good." I walked to the kitchen with Dimitri close behind me. "You're on dough duty, I'll cut up all the toppings."

"Yes my Queen." Dimitri bowed gracefully.

"Hey, no need to jump the gun. I've still got… about 68 hours until I'm crowned." I told him doing the math in my head.

Dimitri laughed and pulled me into a hug, neither of us could deny that whenever it was just us our hands barely left one another. Either one of was constantly reaching for the other. It wasn't a need because we were worried about the other or lonely. It was just our love was so strong that we never wanted to let each other go. "You will always be my Queen Roza."

I chuckled into his chest, my mouth felt like it was stretching to its limit happily. "Does that make you my King?"

"I guess it does." He said after a second of thought.

I gave him my most seductive smile. "Well than your highness… the pizza dough needs your attention." Dropped my seductive act at the word 'pizza' and turned around to start chopping up everything on the counter top.

"No fair Roza." Dimitri whined into my ear.

I snickered. "Hurry up! The sooner the pizza's done, the sooner we can…" I trailed off letting him make his own assumptions.

He growled low in his chest. If that wasn't the sexiest noise I had ever heard I would be shocked. My eyes closed and my thoughts ran wild as Dimitri's lips kissed my collarbone. "If you keep up that train of thought my Roza. Pizza will be the last thing I will be eating tonight."

I moaned at both his words and his lips. I had no idea how this man managed to render me completely to submit to his every want. I had always been in control or at least made those with authority over me feel like they were below me. But with Dimitri, he fought back the control. It was a never ending fight for dominance that neither of us could keep a hold of who was winning, and right now it was him. I could never get tired of him or this fight. But I would never give up easily. I dropped my knife on the counter and turned around and slammed my lips into his. Dimitri returned the kiss was as much passion as he had and we forgot all about dinner.

"Alright Lissa we need some things for a 2 month old girl." I said as we entered one of the many baby boutiques in Court.

"Ok, what about the other kids?" She asked turning toward the girl section.

"I already know what I'm looking for with Zoya, I'll have a think about Paul." I murmured looking at all the baby outfits. Lena had called me this morning while I was having a lovely breakfast with Dimitri outside by my pool and told me that the Belikov's would be boarding the jet in Baia in a couple of hours so to expect them tomorrow morning. I wanted to get Sonya's little girl a present or two as well as Zoya and Paul while I was at it.

Dimitri was close by along with Lissa's Guardian a woman around Dimitri's age that used to go to St Vlad's. She was a nice woman, but very professional so there wasn't much socialising with her. I held up a little pink jumpsuit to Dimitri. **What about this one Comrade?** His eyes glazed over from across the room, I knew that look that was telling me he was looking through my eyes. So I turned it around so I had a perfect view of it. It had taken a few weeks after finding out that we were bonded before Dimitri had realised it could slip into my head. A moment later I looked back up to Dimitri who had a smile on his face, he gave me an approving nod and went back to scouting out the area.

"Awe this one is so cute!" Liss squealed holding up a little fair outfit.

I grinned at the outfit and couldn't help but think about buying clothes for my own children in the future. I had never discussed it with Dimitri but I hoped that one day he would be happy having kids of his own. I could just imagine a mini Dimitri running around Court with us, doing fun family things together. Enjoying a day off at the park pushing our son or daughter on the swings.

I was brought out of my fantasy when a warm pair of hands encircled my waist and pulled me toward the chest of my Russian. I was stunned that he had dropped his Guardian duties in front of everyone in the store, anyone that knew Dimitri knew how serious he was about his job and even more serious that it was me he was guarding. "I want all those things with you Roza. One day soon we can be a family." I relaxed into his embrace with relief that nothing was wrong he was just excited about my little family fantasy I was having.

"Yeah?" I asked turning around in his arms and putting my arms up around his neck.

He nodded and kissed me, there was more emotion in that kiss than I had expected and when he pulled back he didn't pull too far away realising that kiss had left me light headed. "Breathe Roza." He said with a worried voice.

I chuckled and did as he said. "One day we can go shopping for our own children, together."

Dimitri's face was adorably relaxed. "The more the better. I can't wait until you're the mother of my children." It was the sweetest thing anyone could have ever said to me.

After Dimitri went back to his post I turned to Lissa who had a tear rolling down her face as she looked between Dimitri and I.

"Liss, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

She shook her head and wiped the stray tear away. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just so happy for you Rose." Lissa gave me a sad look and I knew she was thinking about my parents. Much like how I was close to Lissa's parents, she had been close to mine. Being inseparable since we first started at the academy together meant that we spent many holidays going between homes together and our parents got along swimmingly which was an added bonus.

"Hey." I said soothingly pulling her into a hug. "I've always had family even after my parents died. I've always had you."

She gave me a smile and her sadness swept from her face. "You'll always be my sister. Now your families growing even more." She said looking back at Dimitri.

I couldn't help the grin that plastered itself onto my face as I followed her gaze. "Yes, it is."

After we found a whole bunch of clothes and some toys for the baby and a cot and change table so Sonya was more comfortable being here with the baby. We moved onto Zoya, I got her a few clothes and went to pick up an order from the florist down the road. I grinned at the rainbow flowers, I knew she would love them. After that we went to a larger store and bought Paul some video games and some training gear for school. Dimitri had a practise stake made for him similar to the one he had given me for my birthday and we had it engraved with his name and a cool pattern we both picked out.

Lissa insisted that she wanted to wrap them, after seeing my terrible wrapping skills all these years and took the presents when we dropped her home. We decided to have everyone over for dinner tomorrow night when the Belikov's were here. My last night as Princess and I would be surrounded by my family, you couldn't get much better than that.

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25 - Family**

The next morning after training with Dimitri we had a very good shower together and got dressed for the day. I grabbed a white maxi dress with a slit up the leg and a red purse and red flats and met some Guardians out the front of the house. With only one sleep until the coronation ceremony Tatiana had upped my Guardian detail and I had 5 Guardians today. All were experienced Guardian's that had been here at Court for a long time. They would only be filling in for the day for both Dimitri and Eddie before I was appointed a Royal Guard tomorrow after the ceremony. Of course Tatiana had agreed that Dimitri would be the head of the Royal Guard and Eddie would be among them. A huge honour for someone his age that had only just graduated. I knew he would take the job very seriously and fit in well with the other Guardians.

One Guardian opened the door of dads SUV for me to climb in and Dimitri got into the other seat. He was so happy all morning knowing his family were coming I had to order him not to be on duty today so he could enjoy the day and night with them. There were another three SUV's behind ours for the Belikov's and for the Guardians. We took off after we were settled in and headed for the feeders. "Good morning Princess Mazur." Said the familiar woman behind the counter.

"Good Morning, Kate. Can you fit me in?"

She stood straight up. "Of course Princess." She led me down the hall and left me to it. The Guardian's waited outside the room while Dimitri followed me in and I had my fill of blood for the day. After that we climbed back into the car and headed for the airstrip.

It took about 10 minutes before we caught sight of the jet coming in for landing. Dimitri was excited as ever and had a stunning smile on his face that I'm sure was mirrored on mine as the doors were opened. The first person I caught sight of was Paul who came running down the stairs and pulled me into a hug a moment later he pulled back and pulled Dimitri into a hug also. I laughed.

"I missed you Aunt Roza, Uncle Dimka."

I grinned and ruffled his hair. "We missed you too Paul."

After that the rest of the Belikov's descended the jet and we were engulfed in many more hugs. Sonya pulled us aside. "I want you both to meet your niece this is baby Katya."

I looked down at the little girl in Sonya's arms and cooed without thinking about it. "She's gorgeous Sonya, congratulations."

Dimitri nodded from beside me and stroked Katya's face softly. "She's beautiful сестра." (Sister)

The Guardian's had all the Belikov's bags loaded into the cars by the time we were all finished greeting everyone and we piled into the SUV's. Vika managed to squish into ours with us. "I missed you guys! I'm sooo happy you managed to get me out of school for a week otherwise I'd still be back at St Basils working my ass off." I giggled and leaned back into Dimitri's chest.

"You're welcome Vik. I'm glad you're all here."

"So you're going to be Queen tomorrow?" She said wriggling her brows at me making me laugh.

"Apparently."

"Does that mean I won't be able to spar with you anymore? I need all the help I can get with my trails coming up in a few months." She gave me a pout that reminded me of Dimitri's pout I had seen a few times before.

I shook my head. "No Vika, we can still spar. You can train with Dimitri, Eddie and I while you're here if you like?"

Her eyes lit up like Christmas lights at Eddie's name and then at the thought of training with us. "Really?"

"Yep."

"How is Eddie?" She asked in a timid voice, very un-Vika like.

I couldn't help but smirk at her. "He's good. He and some of my other friends are coming over for dinner tonight."

Her eyes lit up once again and she nodded happily. The SUV pulled into our driveway and the door was opened for us. Three Guardian's did a sweep of the house while we all piled out of the cars and the remaining Guardian's got all of the Belikov's luggage. Everyone was in awe of the house as Dimitri and I gave them all a tour and led them into the bedrooms. I had taken some free time over the months to take all of my parents things out of their room. I had kept the most significant things everything else was donated.

So I gave Yeva and Olena my parents old room so they could have plenty of space. Paul and Zoya shared one room while Karolina and Vika got their own rooms and we gave Sonya a room that already had that cot in it and the change table that Lissa and I had picked out yesterday for her and Katya. It wasn't much but Sonya was thrilled with it and hugged me hard. After everyone was settled we headed outside by the pool for lunch. I swam with Vika and Paul, than when Karo brought Zoya down in the cutest swimmers I took her from her mother and I played with her in the water. I squirted Paul with water magic across the other end of the pool much to Zoya's amusement.

Dimitri cooked everyone lunch and told them all about inviting my friends for dinner tonight. Olena insisted that she be allowed to cook for everyone. "You're welcoming us into your home Roza. Please let me do something for you." I reluctantly agreed and she giggled happily and straight away headed for the kitchen. Dimitri followed after his mother asking if she needed him to go get some things from the store.

I sat down in one of the chairs with Karo, Sonya and Vika while Paul and Zoya played in the shallows of the pool together. "You two seem happy." Sonya said motioning to her brothers retreating form.

"We are." I smiled.

"We always thought Dimka would be alone his whole life. He took his job so seriously, love was the last thing on his mind." Karolina said added to the conversation. "Now when we look at him, he is full of love and happiness. You are good for him."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that so I just chose to smile at them. Sonya let me hold Katya while she went inside to get another drink for everyone. Katya was only in my arms for a minute before her eyes closed and she fell asleep. When Sonya came back outside I stood up with the baby still in my arms. "She's asleep, I'm going to put her to bed. I'll bring down the baby monitor for you."

She smiled. "Thanks Roza."

I walked passed Dimitri and Olena who were having a hushed conversation in the kitchen and went upstairs to put Katya down. She relaxed into the crib only making a cute baby noise and snuggled in further to her blankets and slept peacefully. I reached over the side of the crib and kissed her on the forehead. I grabbed the baby monitor Sonya had brought with them and turned around to see Dimitri resting against the door casually staring at me with a loving look. I reached up to kiss him quickly before pulling him away from the room.

"First Zoya now Katya. You're going to make an amazing mother Roza." Dimitri said pulling me to the side of the hallway.

"One day Comrade, one day." I pulled him into our room and over to the presents Lissa had dropped over late last night. "We've got a couple of hours before dinner we might as well give them their presents now."

Dimitri nodded and picked up the biggest ones and left the smaller ones for me to carry down. We put them down in the lounge room and Dimitri went outside to get everyone to come in. Pauls face lit up when he seen the presents and Dimitri pointed to the blue presents. "Those are all yours."

Paul wasted no time rushing over and started ripping them open. "What's all this for?" Karolina asked watching her son.

I shrugged. "We just wanted to spoil the kids. Those are Zoya's and these are Katya's." Karo and Sonya pulled us both into a hug and then went over to open the presents. Zoya was so cute helping her mother rip the wrapping paper. When they were finished I grabbed the small bundle of rainbow flowers I had ordered and gave them to Zoya who clapped her hands excitedly. I sent a small ounce of Spirit into them and they widened and looked brighter. I was positive that she was going to love flowers forever now.

After the presents I showed Paul the video game console we had here he could play his new games on while the rest of us got ready for dinner. I kept it sort of casual with leather tights, a black t-shirt and a white and black checker shirt over the top that I left unbuttoned and rolled up the sleeves. I put on some black pumps and pulled my hair up into a messy bun, with a few strands out framing my face. Dimitri wore a black long sleeved white t-shirt and blue jeans. He looked delicious and neither of us could resist a few long hot kisses before we went back downstairs to help Olena out in the kitchen.

Half hour later I heard the doorbell ring, I ran over to the door to see Lissa and Christian. Lissa was her usual excited perfection and Christian looked rather grumpy he was here. I chuckled at him and let them inside. I hadn't even got through all the introductions before Lissa was hugging everyone. Mia and Eddie turned up at the same time a look of jealousy went through Vika the second she seen the door open. That jealousy dissapeared the moment Eddie got sight of her and ran over to Vika lifting her into his arms and kissed her passionately. It was a gorgeous moment that left us all a bit speechless.

My eyes met Dimitri's, he had accepted that something was between them last time we were in Baia so he didn't look all that angry that someone was making out with his younger sister. Although it probably helped that it was Eddie who he had grown very close with. It wasn't a Mason and Eddie friendship but it was close. **You're a good brother. She's happy with him.** He nodded watching his sister talk excitedly to Eddie catching up on the last few months they had been a part. Mason was the last to show and in his arms was a very happy and giggly Anna. My smile turned into a full blown grin when I opened the door. "Well, look at that." I snickered opening the door wider so they could come inside.

Everyone got on really well over Olena's dinner. It was funny watching Christian try to pry Liss away from Zoya and Katya with a worried look on his face. "Better be careful Sparky or the next kid you see will be yours." I whispered in his ear before walking away. Dimitri let a few jokes slip at Christian's expense over the night also. By the time they left Christian looked to be as white as a ghost, maybe even a little green. Dimitri and I made all the Belikov's head to bed after my friends left they had had a big day so we took our time cleaning up.

I was relieved that this wasn't our last night in the house. As Queen it was expected to be living in the Queen Quarters in the top floors of Parliament building. Something I wasn't thrilled about but as long as Dimitri was with me we could make anywhere a home. We had about 2 months of renovations through the quarters before it was time for us to move in. Tatiana had good taste but it was too lavish for either mine or Dimitri's taste. Lissa was going to help out with the renovations when we weren't working. She would officially be the Queen's Royal Advisor tomorrow, something she was incredibly excited about.

When we were finished cleaning up Dimitri swept me up into his arms bridal style and carried me upstairs. He somehow managed to get the door open without his hands leaving my body and we stepped into a candle lit room that made me gasp. Almost every surface was covered in candles, there was soft music playing and flower petals on the bed. Dimitri let my legs down but he didn't release me. "Do you like it?" He whispered into my ear from behind me.

"When did you do this? It's… _beautiful_."

"While you were busy with everyone downstairs." I melted into his arms and turned around to kiss him. The kiss started off slow and loving and turned to passion and lust. Dimitri pulled back after a minute making me pout which earned a hearty chuckle from my man. "Patients my love. I want to ask you something first."

My brows rose and I nodded waiting for him to continue. I had no idea what was important enough that we couldn't be in bed together right now. He grinned listening to my inner thoughts. I slapped his arm for eavesdropping. "Ask away then, my patients are that great."

He chuckled and walked over to his side of the bed and grabbed something out of the bedside table before walking back over to me. Now I was really curious. Dimitri's eyes held mine for a long moment before he dropped down onto one knee. My hands instinctively went to cover my gaping mouth when realisation hit. He took my left hand in his and looked up to me. My hands were shaking and I could already feel my eyes burn with tears that were about to shed.

"Rosemarie Mazur, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You are so strong and compassionate. No one understands me better than you do. Every morning I wake up next to you feels like a dream. One I never want to wake up from. I want to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you do me the extraordinary honour, of becoming my wife?"

He pulled out a ring from behind him and opened it. Inside was a beautiful white gold ring with a large opal in the middle. It looked like it was an antique and I loved it as soon as I caught sight of it. But most importantly those dark brown eyes that could see right into my soul grabbed my attention. I sent him a thousand messages at the moment but only one word came out of my mouth. "Yes"

Dimitri's grin was the biggest and brightest I had ever seen it. He took the ring from the box and placed it onto my ring finger. A perfect fit. He kissed the ring than my knuckles. "It was Babushka's mothers wedding ring. Mama gave it to me today and I didn't want to wait to put it onto your finger." I laughed happily at how excited he was. Dimitri finally stood up and pulled me into the most loving kiss we had ever shared and took me to bed.

 **Woo their engaged and they want a family. That's pretty darn cute!**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


	26. Chapter 26

**This is my last update so I've made it a long one! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 26 - Coronation**

I woke the next morning in the arms of my fiancé, who's eyes were open watching me with all of the love he held. I smiled and kissed him hard. We both knew Eddie would be here soon for training so we pulled ourselves out of bed to change. I walked down the hall into Vika's room and had to pull her out of bed. "Come on Eddie, will be here soon you want to be dressed don't you?" That got her up and into her bathroom with a change of clothes in her arms. I laughed and met Dimitri at the bottom of the stairs where we waited for Vika and Eddie.

We decided to kept the engagement a secret until we had everyone here to listen which meant we probably wouldn't get to tell everyone until tonight with everything going on. Three minutes later there was a quiet knock on the door and Dimitri opened it to reveal Eddie in his workout clothes. Vika ran down the stairs a moment later into Eddie's waiting arms, they shared a quick kiss before turning to us. We set off outside together at a relaxed pace. We didn't have as much time this morning as we usually did so we ran half of Court before turning back towards home and went into the gym.

It was fun with Vika here we all spent time showing her a few moves. She was a great fighter and we had one tense spar that ended with her grumbling crankily that she still hadn't beat me. After training was finished we all went to change. Olena was already in the kitchen making us breakfast when we came back downstairs. Dimitri and I only had 10 minutes to eat before we had to leave for parliament. So we quickly stuffed our faces with black bread and donuts much to Olena's amusement before we both kissed her goodbye. The Guardian's that had been on patrol around the house met us at the stairs with my SUV open and ready to go.

My nerves started to spike as we headed across Court. "You will be fine love. You can do this. I know you can." Dimitri gave me a reassuring kiss that helped relieve most of my nerves. There was already a small crowd waiting out the front of Parliament for the Coronation that wasn't until midnight which was still about 4 hours away.

We got inside without any problems and Lena was just inside the doors waiting for us. "Good morning Princess."

I smiled at Lena. "Good morning Lena. How's our day looking?"

"Everything is running perfectly. We just need you to go through a quick rehearsal than into hair and makeup."

I nodded. "Ok, lead the way."

"We're ready for the dress Princess." Lena said walking into the room.

I let out a long breathe knowing it was time. Dimitri gave me a long kiss. "I love you, take deep breathes. Talk to me through the whole ceremony if you need to. I'll be right there." I nodded and he got up with one last kiss and left the room heading for the Ceremonial Hall.

I turned around to Lena. "I'm ready." She smiled at me and opened the door again letting a few Moroi women inside who were carrying my gown. We spent the next 15 minutes getting me into the gown. When I was finally all fastened up one of the ladies walked me over to a large mirror. The dress was stunning. A dark red coloured lace covered the dress and went across my chest it had long laced sleeves that went down to my fingers but was off the shoulder so it still looked like me just much more regal. The train was laid out several meters behind me. My hair was pulled into a low styled bun ready for my new crown to rest on top. I had huge rubies hanging from my ears and my neck. I refused to take my engagement ring off and Lena had gave me a knowing look and told the woman that it was staying on my hand.

My makeup was flawless and I had red lips that went with my dress. I couldn't help but smile at my reflection, I looked like a queen in that moment. The doors opened and in walked Tatiana is a stunning green gown. She grinned when she caught sight of me. "You look stunning Rose."

I smiled. "So do you. Is everything ready?" I asked nervously.

Tatiana nodded. "Yes everything is ready. It's just us they are waiting on now."

I swallowed and nodded, taking a few deep breaths before leaving the room beside Tatiana. We followed Lena and some Guardian's out of the room and down a few halls to the doors of the Ceremonial Hall. Tatiana turned to me and hugged me while we both tried not to ruin our outfits. "I've told you many times before but I'll say it again. I'm so proud of you Rose. You are going to make an amazing Queen. No one could do this as well as I know you are going to."

A tear fell from my eye and she quickly wiped it away making sure my makeup was still perfect. "Thank you Tatiana."

She smiled warmly and grabbed my hands between hers. "Thank _you_ Rose." With that she walked towards the doors a second before they opened announcing her arrival. Lena gave me three minutes to relax a bit before the doors would open again for my entrance.

I closed my eyes and took long calming breathes. I can do this. Mum and Dad would have loved to have been here with me. I bet they were here. I could just imagine my father on one side of me and my mother on the other. Both with proud tears in their eyes and proud smiles on their faces. _For you both_. I though just as the doors opened to reveal a packed room with hundreds of Moroi and I was happy to see plenty of Dhampir in here also. I made my way down the aisle slowly smiling at a lot of people that waved or just looked really excited. My eyes met Dimitri's proud ones who took my hand after I had passed the crowd. He helped me up the steps and kissed my hand giving me a graceful bow before descending the stairs back to his seat in the front row beside his mother.

I turned to Tatiana who was standing looking as regal as ever across from me. "Princess Rosemarie Mazur, kneel." I did as she asked. I made my promises as Tatiana asked question after question. All of which I responded with. "I will."

After 5 minutes she was handed my new crown and took a step closer to me and placed it on my head than stepped back. "Rise." I stood up and faced the crowd along with Tatiana. "Queen Rosemarie Mazur, first of her name." With that the whole room bowed including all the Guardian's along the edges and Tatiana herself.

I took a step forward and raised my voice so it would be heard by all. "Rise." I turned around and took my seat on the thrown. With that the clapping and cheering started. My eyes found my brown eyed Russian and I smiled at him. **We did it.**

Dimitri grinned but shook his head and pointed to me and mouthed "You did it."

The ceremony ended an hour after I had been crowned. That time was followed by Moroi and Dhampir greeting me, giving gifts or introducing themselves. Everything went smoothly after the ceremony was finished everyone rose from their seats as I left the room escorted by my Russian. Lena met us back out in the hall, she smiled and curtsied. "Your Majesty"

I smiled at her and nodded knowing that it would be custom now for everyone to bow or curtsy before me when I entered the room. Lena led us down a few halls into a private meeting room with a long table. A maid pulled out the seat for me at the head of the table and Dimitri helped me sit down without damaging the dress before standing beside me with his Guardian mask on. Tatiana entered the room not a minute later followed by an older Moroi man who had a briefcase in one hand, they both bowed and curtsied. Chairs were held out for them both beside me while they took their seats. Tatiana folded her arms in front of her. "Your Majesty, this is Lord Raymond Conta."

"It's nice to meet you Lord Conta."

He smiled. "The pleasure's mine Queen Mazur. I have some paperwork for you to sign to finalise your coronation."

I nodded and waited for him to pull out some paperwork. Raymond read out all of the fine print and I signed and dated the bottom of each page until we were finished. Then he pulled out another set of documents and read them out before asking both Tatiana and I to sign them. He then rose from his seat and bowed thanking us for our time before leaving the room. Tatiana motioned to the Guardian by the doors and he opened them letting in 12 Guardians with red collars and Eddie with Guardian Croft trailing not far behind them. All of the red collared Guardians stood in a line together along one side of the table. Tatiana motioned to them. "This is your Royal Guard, Your Majesty." I nodded and stood up. Dimitri was quick to help me with my train.

I walked over to the Guardian closest to me who bowed gracefully when I reached him. "Queen Rosemarie Mazur, I Guardian Anthony Richards pledge myself to you from this day forward."

When he stood back I up I nodded. "Thank you for your pledge Guardian Richards." Then stepped to the next Guardian who pledged himself also until I had walked the whole line. When I got to the end of the room I turned to Hans who picked up a uniform with a red collar and handed it to me.

I smiled at Hans and stepped away walking toward Eddie until I stood in front of him. He bowed gracefully before standing at his full height. "Guardian Edison Castile, as Queen. I ask you if you will do me the honour of joining the Royal Guard?" Eddie's Guardian mask was firmly in place but his eyes shone with happiness.

He raised his hand over his heart and looked me straight in the eye. "It would be my honour Your Majesty. I Guardian Edison Castile pledge myself to you Queen Rosemarie Mazur from this day forward."

I smiled at him and handed him his new Guardian uniform. "Thank you Guardian Castile." With that I walked back to Hans who handed me another uniform with a red collar only this one also had a red crest over one side of the chest. The crest was the Mazur family crest and it was sewed on in red. This signified the Head of the Royal Guard. The highest honour for any Guardian. I walked across the room until I was standing in front of Dimitri who also bowed before standing again giving me his full attention. "Guardian Dimitri Belikov. As Queen Rosemarie Mazur I must chose a Guardian to lead the Royal Guard. I choose you Guardian Belikov. Will you do me the honour of being the head of the Royal Guard?"

Dimitri raised his hand over his heart. "I Guardian Dimitri Belikov, pledge myself to lead the Royal Guard and pledge my life to you Queen Rosemarie Mazur every moment for the rest of my life."

I grinned and stepped forward handing him his new uniform. It was meant to be a very formal moment but I didn't care as I stepped closer and kissed him. He returned the kiss with passion before I slowly pulled back. "Thank you Guardian Belikov." Dimitri nodded giving me a large smile before his Guardian mask was back up.

I turned around to see a very amused look on Tatiana's face. She stood up and curtsied to me. "My job here is done. I wish you the best of luck."

I grinned and walked over hugging her. "Thank you for everything." With another smile she turned and left the room.

The next hour Hans went through things about the Royal Guard with Eddie and Dimitri. I didn't have to be present so I followed Lena out to get changed out of my dress, while we were there I went through a stack of dresses for a ball that was held in my honour tomorrow night. But thankfully I had tonight without any engagements I had to get through. When Dimitri was finished and I had chosen a gown for tomorrow we left Parliament followed by my new Royal Guard. Dimitri drove us back home to our family and friends who were waiting. With my engagement ring firmly in place and my fiancé by my side we walked in ready to tell them all the big news and to start this new chapter of our lives together.

 **Epilogue - 6 Years Later**

Those memories of that day 6 years ago was still fresh in my mind. I had never come to regret taking on the roll as Queen of the Moroi and Dhampir world, even at the age of 18 the youngest Queen in our History. I was proud to say all my dreams of Dhampir and Moroi being equals was fast becoming a reality. There was still some prejudice, but I believe that was more an issue of the individual than the Moroi race as a whole.

The Royal Court along with the 6 other Courts in existence now held both Moroi and Dhampir to live there, even if the Dhampir weren't promised Guardian's they were all accepted. Moroi had been graduating with their added training and we were quickly cutting down Strigoi numbers faster than I thought would be possible. With the added fighters we were able to start strike missions that would take out groups of Strigoi, instead of waiting for them to come after us. The amount of Moroi that willingly turned Strigoi was almost non-existent. Strigoi were fighting a losing battle, it would be idiotic to join them now.

Guardians were treated with much more respect than they had before. They were not entitled to 6 weeks leave every year and they were no longer working 7 days a week with long hours. Because of these changes a number of Dhampir went back to school to graduate as Guardians. Being a Guardian was seen more now as a well-paying job instead of a life sentence like before.

The door to my office opened and in ran my son. "Mama!" He ran across the room and jumped into my waiting arms.

"Hello handsome, how was training with Daddy?" I asked brushing his dark brown hair behind his ear.

He looked up at me with the same chocolate brown eyes of his father. "Good! Daddy let me stake Uncle Chrissie."

I snickered. "Did you get him good?"

"Yes Mama." He nodded eagerly.

"That's my little man." I said kissing him on the forehead. The love of my life walked in and grinned at the both of us. "You let him stake Sparky?" I asked.

Dimitri nodded. "Christian lit up one of his toys while he was practising. I thought it was only fair."

"Aw did he do that to one of your toys little man?" He looked up and nodded sadly at me. "Do you want Mama to light his ass on fire?"

"Roza!"

"Sorry Comrade, some habits are hard to break." He tried to look angry but I could see the humour in his eyes.

"Please, can you Mama?" My little man said with an adorable pout.

"See!" I said pointing to our son. "He agrees with me."

Dimitri rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "Everyone's arrived for dinner." I nodded and stood up. "Come on Ivan." Dimitri said holding his arm out for our son who managed to escape my firm grip on him easily and bound over to his father. Ivan was only 3 years old but he was already stronger and faster than anyone could believe, even for a Dhampir. What can I say? His parents were both badass.

Dimitri chuckled hearing my thoughts. I switched off my computer and walked over to my loves. Dimitri kissed me on my lips before bending down and kissing my swollen belly. "I missed my girls."

"We missed you too, Comrade." Our hands linked together and we all walked out towards our Royal Quarters. Dimitri was an amazing father. When Ivan was first born, Dimitri and I both stayed home as much as possible and Lissa stood in for me as relieving Queen. After a few months I was needed back so Dimitri alternated between working and training Ivan as soon as he was old enough to walk. Another good thing to come out of my relationship with Dimitri was that the Royal Law had changed. Dhampir now had the right to not only have titles as royals but a seat on the Council. So Ivan was officially Lord Ivan Ibrahim Mazur-Belikov and my Russian god was Prince Dimitri Mazur-Belikov. He had taken my spot on the Council when he became my husband and I was Queen Rosemarie Mazur-Belikova. We all kept the Mazur in our names to continue the line on but I put my foot down when it was suggested that I didn't take Belikov as my last name after our marriage.

Having Dimitri on the Council was a big change. It was a big wakeup call to the other Council members when Dimitri would bring up issues the Guardian's or Dhampir were having. It was almost like a slap in the face some of the issues. The Council had never truly been involved in Dhampir affairs and left the Guardian's to it. The only problem was not all Dhampir were Guardian's so people like the Belikov's were left to fend for themselves.

Ivan ran straight over to little Rhea when we walked through the doors. Lissa and Christian had a beautiful blonde haired girl they named after Lissa's mother a little under a year after Ivan was born. Ivan and Rhea were as inseparable as Lissa and I. I walked over to my mother-in-law and kissed her. "Roza, how are you feeling?"

"I'm good Olena, she's nice and happy in there for another couple of months."

"That's good sweetheart." She smiled before going back to her chopping.

"Hey, hey. Keep the hands and lips off each other, there are little ones in the room." I said throwing a piece of carrot Olena had been cutting up at Vika and Eddie who pulled away.

"Like you can talk, Roza. You and my brother hardly pull away enough to breathe." Vika retaliated.

I grinned and turned around to Dimitri. "Well he is simply delicious."

"Eww!" Vika yelled.

I chuckled and walked over to Dimitri. _**You don't need to breathe do you Comrade?**_

"Hell no Roza. I'd prefer your lips any day." He whispered into my ear making me shiver.

"Oh come on, were having dinner!" Christian whined.

I turned around to death glare him. "I heard about what you did today, Sparky."

He gulped. "I didn't mean it! I promised Ivan I would buy him another toy to make up for it!"

My eyes narrowed. "Make it two." He nodded eagerly. I turned to see a stunningly handsome grin on Ivan's face, he looked so much like his father when he smiled. I winked at him. "Where's Mase and Anna?" I asked the room.

Eddie smiled from his seat beside Vika. "They will be here soon." He wasn't kidding, in walked Mason and Anna. They had large smiles on both of their faces.

"Hey guys" Mason said. "We've got some news."

"Oh, do tell." I said leaning into Dimitri's large chest as he wrapped his arms around my belly from behind me.

"We got approved for the adoption!" I gasped and ran forward pulling them both in for a hug. "I'm so happy for you both, you'll be great parents!" Tears started leaking from my eyes.

"Why are you crying Rosie?" Mason asked wiping my tears away.

"It's the hormones." I heard Christian whisper. I whipped around and glared at him. "What? Lissa was the same when she was pregnant with Rhea." He said matter-of-factly. I grinned as Lissa slapped him over the back of the head, _hard_.

"Nice one Liss." She smiled at me.

"Dinner's ready!" Olena called walking out of the dining room and smiling at us all. The Belikov's walked in first and everyone else followed grabbing their seats.

"How's training coming Mia?" I asked once my tummy was fully satisfied. "Good, I don't mind being back at St Vlad's." She gave me a shy small smile

"Oh? Spill!." I said knowingly, leaning forward.

"His names Aleksandr Rykov and he's a Guardian assigned to the Academy."

I grinned. "Tall handsome guy, light brown hair and blue eyes?"

Her eyes widened. "You know him?"

"I met him at the Guardian lunch after our graduation. He fought with us in the battles." She smiled dreamily. "I'm happy for you Mia."

She leant over the table and squeezed my hand. "Thanks Rose."

I leaned back in my chair and watched my friends and family interact with one another. Everyone had smiles on their faces. The Belikov family had grown with the addition of Ivan and myself. Paul was now as tall as Dimitri and the best in his classes at St Vlad's, the closest school to Court after the Belikov's moved here into my parents' house. Zoya who was 9 now was also at St Vlad's, she was a talented little fighter but had a love for academics. After Mason and Anna had started looking into adopting, Vika and Eddie started looking at their options also. Both couples were madly in love. Olena had met a lovely Dhampir man that had lost his wife a decade ago. They were still in their early stages of the relationship but she was happier than ever.

Yeva was still all-knowing. She enjoyed living at Court and creeping out the Royals with her visions and cryptic advice. We were extremely lucky to have her around. It took about 6 months before we started realising that my healing magic Spirit was having a bad effect on my mind and then Dimitri's by default. Yeva explained what was happening and even introduced us to friends of hers Mark and Oksana who were bonded and Oksana was a Spirit user. Together we all worked out how to keep the Spirit in control. Karolina and Sonya had both settled down at Court and worked here. With a lot of Dhampir living in Court, we ended up extending the space and a lot more business and jobs opened up.

Christian was a magic teacher here at Court. But did a bit of travelling to school's like St Vlad's and St Basil's to check on their progress, and make sure we were heading in the right direction when it came to offensive magic. When he wasn't doing either of those, he and Mason were teamed up on the Leaders strike team that went looking for Strigoi. I'll admit it, Firecrotch wasn't half that bad. Mason was the head of the strike team and Anna was still assigned here to Court. They were happy and got to spend plenty of time together. Eddie was still my Guardian full-time along with the twelve other Guardian's but had been promoted to Head of the Royal Guard since I had Ivan. When both of our children were in school Dimitri insisted on going back to being my Head Guardian but still keep his seat on the Council. Vika was like my Dhampir advisor and when Guardian Croft retires I wouldn't be all that surprised if he had her take his position as Head Court Guardian.

Lissa was the best Royal Advisor I could ever ask for, her mother Rhea retired last year when she seen how well Liss was doing as my advisor and now Lissa was Princess. Dimitri, Lissa and I were a force to be reckoned with. I almost felt bad for some of the Royals on the Council when they tried to go up against us, _almost_. Ivan would be starting school at St Vlad's in a years' time. Dimitri and I were both nervous to let him go, but knew that it would be good for him to be with people his own age. Plus Mia, Alberta and Paul would be there to keep an eye on him for us and as Queen and Prince we had permission to visit whenever we wanted to. I wouldn't mind ruffling Kirova's feathers a few times a year with my presence. Dimitri and I got married only a year after we met. We knew that we had found our soul mate and neither of us wanted to wait any longer to tie the knot. We were happy, beyond happy and more in love than anyone I knew. I found out that I was pregnant again while Dimitri and I were on vacation in Hawaii 6 months ago. We were naming her Asya Vasilisa Mazur-Belikova. I was excited to see if she would end up looking more like me or Dimitri like Ivan did.

"I hope she's a spitting image of her stunning mother." Dimitri whispered into me ear.

I smiled and leaned into him. _**We'll just have to wait and see Comrade.**_

"I love you, Roza."

I turned my head to look deep into his chocolate brown eyes. "I love you too, Comrade."

 **We've come to the end. I'm genuinely upset to finish this story. It's without a doubt my favourite that I've written and I hope you all loved it!**

 **I'm happy that Roza and Dimitri have finished their story happy, with family and in love. They truly are perfect together.**

 **I love you guys for reading! Make sure you keep an eye out for more VA stories. I'm in the middle of writing three of them right now, I can only hope I'm as happy with them in the end as I am with The Magic Within.**

 **Lots Of Love**

 **-Skye (FeminineHeroes)**


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